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The  East 


BY  WAY  OF 


THE  WEST. 


GIVING    AN   ACCOUNT    OF   "WHAT    THE    AUTHOR  SAW  IN  HEATHEN  LANDS 

DURING  HIS  LATE  MISSIONARY  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD;  ALSO 

GRAPHIC    DESCRIPTIONS    OF    TRAVEL    AND    SIGHT-SEEING    IN 

TURKEY,  GREECE,  ROME,  ITALY,  FRANCE,  SWITZERLAND, 

GERMANY  AND  ENGLAND. 

BY  THE  LATE 

BISHOP  E.  M.  MARVIN,  D.D.; 


WITH 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SERMON, 

By  BISHOP  H.  N.  McTYEIRE,  D.D., 


AND 


INTRODUCTION, 

By  rev.  t.  o.  summers,  d.d. 


ILLUSTRATED. 


ST.    LOUIS  : 
BRYAN,  BRAND  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS. 

1878. 


\ 


J 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1877,  by 

BRYAN,  BRAND  &  CO., 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


BECKTOLD  &  CO 

BINDERS, 

215  Pine  Street. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE . 

INTRODUCTION, 5 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE  VOYAGE,  .  .  .  .  .  .13 

CHAPTER  II. 

DAI  NIPPON,  ....  •  .        21 

CHAPTER  III. 

A  SUNDAY  IN  DAI  NIPPON,  .  .  .  .  .30 

CHAPTER  IT. 

THE  REVOLUTION  OF  1868  IN  DAI  NIPPON,         .  .  .40 

CHAPTER  V. 

FROM  YOKOHAMA  TO    NAGASAKI,  .  .  .  .54 

CHAPTER  VI. 

LIFE  IN  DAI  NIPPON,         .  .  .  .  .  .66 

CHAPTER  VII. 

RELIGION  IN  DAI  NIPPON,  .  .  .  .  .77 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

CHINA,      .  .  .  .  .  .  .  •  .        87 

CHAPTER  IX. 

ORDINATION  OF  THE  NATIVE  HELPERS,  .  .  .99 

CHAPTER  X. 

BY  CANAL  TO  SOOCnOW  AND  HANGCHOW,  .  .  .      110 

CHAPTER  XI. 

LAST  DAYS  IN  CHINA,       .  .  .  .  .  .126 

CHAPTER  XII. 

IN  MEMORIAM,  ......      135 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

FROM  SHANGHAI  TO  CANTON,      .....      138 


•  • 


11  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEE  XIV. 

SINGAPORE,  .......      153 

CHAPTER  XV. 

TEX  DAYS  IN  CEYLON,  .....      169 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

CKYLON,  MADRAS,    CALCUTTA,  .  .  .  .189 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

CALCUTTA,  .......      206 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

FROM  CALCUTTA  TO  BENARES,  ....      219 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

LUCKNOW  AND  CAWNPORE,  .....      231 

CHAPTER  XX. 

SHAHJEHANABAD,  AKBARAB YD,  ALLAHABAD,  .  .  .      245 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

ODDS  AND   ENDS,  .  .  .  .  .  .263 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

FROM  INDIA  TO  EGYPT,  .....      280 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

SUEZ — CAIRO,  ......      293 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

MEMPHIS — SIKKARAH— GHIZEH,  ....      310 

CHAPTER   XXV. 

FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM,        .....      325 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

A  WEEK  IN  JERUSALEM,  .....      340 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

JERUSALEM,  .......      357 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

IN  THE  SADDLE  AND  IN  THE    TENT,        ....      373 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

BETHEL — SHILOH — NABLOUS,  ....      390 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

FROM  NABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS,  ....      406 


CONTENTS. 


Ill 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


SKA  OF   GALILEE, 

•                       •                       •                       •                       4 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

.     426 

THE  WONDERS  OF  THE  JORDAN,                .                .                , 

,            .     439 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

DAMASCUS  AND  THE 

BARADA,                        .                 .                 , 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

.     454 

BAALBEC — ZALEH — ] 

BEYROOT, 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

.     468 

ON  BOARD  THE  STEAMER  ESPERO,            .                 .                 , 

.     484 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

CONSTANTINOPLE, 

•                         •                         •                         •                         i 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

.     499 

ATHENS, 

•                         •                         •                         •                        i 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

.     514 

ITALY, 

•                                   •                                   •                                   •                                   4 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

.     533 

CONCLUSION, 

•                                   •                                   •                                   •                                   4 

.     565 

APPENDIX, 

•                                •                                4>                               •                                1 

.     581 

INTRODUCTION. 


W{HE  LAMENTED  author  of  this  book  died 
before  its  publication,  so  that  it  may  be  called 
a  posthumous  work.  He  was  passing  the  last 
sheets  through  the  press  when  his  Divine  Master 
called  him  from  labor  to  reward.  As  the  Letters 
of  Bishop  Marvin  had  been  written  at  my  earnest 
solicitation,  and  had  been  first  published  under  my 
editorial  supervision,  and  as  there  was  a  strong  affec- 
tion between  him  and  me,  the  Publishers  requested 
me  to  write  a  Biographical  Sketch  of  the  Bishop  for 
the  work — which  I  consented  to  do.  But  after  hear- 
ing Bishop  McTyeire's  Memorial  Discourse,  which 
comprises  the  main  points  in  Bishop  Marvin's  life, 
I  thought  it  would  be  like  gilding  refined  gold  to 
write  the  sketch,  as  the  Discourse  was  kindly  per- 
mitted to  appear  in  the  volume.  But  this  does  not 
preclude  a  brief  Introduction,  which  it  affords  me 
pleasure  to  furnish. 

When  the  General  Conference  of  1874  requested 
one  of  the  Bishops  to  visit  China,  in  the  interest  of 
our  Missionary  work,  and  when  the  College  of 
Bishops  appointed  Bishop  Marvin  to  perform  this 
service,  as  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Missions, 
I  heartily  approved  of  the  suggestion  that  the 
Bishop  should  extend  his  tour,  inspect  the  opera- 
tions of  the  various  Missionary  Societies  in  other 
parts  of  the  world,  and  attend  the  session  of  the 
British  Conference  to  represent  our  connection 
before  that  venerable  body.  In  the  address  of  that 
Conference  to  the  General  Conference  of  the  M,  E, 


VI  INTRODUCTION. 

Church,  South,  to  be  presented  at  its  next  session, 
the  British  brethren  say  that  the  visit  of  the  Bishop 
and  his  traveling  companion,  the  Rev.  E.  R.  Hen- 
drix,  "  afforded  them  no  ordinary  pleasure,"  which 
we  can  well  believe. 

I  requested  him  to  furnish  me  a  letter  every  week 
during  his  tour;  and  he  did  so.  All  his  letters  came 
safely  to  hand,  so  that  they  appeared  regularly  in 
successive  numbers  of  the  Christian  Advocate.  They 
were  written  on  ship-board,  in  tents,  and  in  khans — 
currente  calamo — sometimes  on  coarse  paper  with 
a  pencil ;  and  yet  they  required  but  a  comparatively 
small  amount  of  revision.  Some  slips  in  facts  and 
dates,  names  of  persons  and  places,  and  slight  inac- 
curacies of  expression,  were  unavoidable — but  it 
was  a  labor  of  love  to  prepare  them  for  the  public 
eye.  It  may  be  safely  said  that  few  such  letters  from 
the  Orient  were  ever  written,  and  few  men  could 
write  any  like  them. 

He  saw,  as  it  were,  with  our  eyes — or  we  saw  with 
his — the  very  things  which  we  wanted  to  see.  His 
faculty  of  description  and  delineation  was  wonderful. 
Then  he  saw  so  much,  and  he  rarely  fails  to  make  a 
full  and  sharply  defined  impression  on  the  mind  of 
the  reader  in  regard  to  every  thing  which  he  de- 
scribes. The  magnetic  power  which  he  had  in  per- 
sonal intercourse  with  men,  is  carried  into  his  letters. 
There  is  a  wonderful  fascination  in  his  style.  No 
one  ever  wearies  with  it.  The  learned  and  the 
unlearned  are  alike  entertained  by  it.  He  saw 
things  "  in  a  dry  light,"  and  he  reports  them  without 
prejudice  or  exaggeration. 

He  went  on  his  tour  with  a  special  object,  and  he 
never  forgot  it — he  studied  every  thing  in  relation 
to  it ;  and  acted  as  "  ever  in  his  great  Taskmas- 
ter's eye."  His  traveling  companion,  the  Rev.  E.  R. 
Hendrix,  bears  a  strong  testimony   to    this    in    his 


•  * 


INTRODUCTION.  VU 

excellent  work,  just  published,  being  his  account  of 
the  same  missionary  tour. 

Bishop  Marvin  could  not  have  produced  a  work 
like  this,  if  he  had  not  possessed  a  mind  of  unusually 
clear  perceptions,  a  sound  judgment,  poetic  and 
imaginative  powers  of  a  high  order,  indomitable 
energy,  and  unquenchable  zeal  in  the  cause  of 
Christ. 

The  benefit  conferred  upon  the  Church  by  this 
missionary  tour,  thus  faithfully  and  picturesquely 
reported,  is  incalculable.  It  has  made  the  pulse  of 
the  Church  beat  higher — it  has  enlarged  our  view 
of  the  mission  held,  and  suggested  plans  for  its  culti- 
vation— it  has  greatly  strengthened  the  hands  and 
comforted  the  hearts  of  our  little  band  of  missionaries 
in  China,  and  those  of  other  Churches  in  the  lands 
visited  by  him,  and  the  publication  of  his  letters  will 
do  much  to  fan  the  flame  of  missionary  zeal  in  the 
widespread  Connection  of  which  he  was  so  bright 
an  ornament  and  in  which  he  labored  with  so  much 
zeal  and  success. 

Bishop  Marvin  was  a  wonder  unto  many,  includ- 
ing himself.  Though  descended  from  a  pious  and 
learned  ancestry — the  world-renowned  Puritans, 
Increase  and  Cotton  Mather — he  did  not  enjoy  the 
advantage  of  much  Christian  culture  in  his  early 
life.  He  was  unprepossessing  in  his  appearance  and 
uncouth  in  his  manners;  but  there  was  "a  gem  of 
purest  ray  serene"  hidden  within  the  rough  exterior 
— and  it  could  not  be  hidden  long.  The  lapidary 
who  brought  the  tints  to  view,  was,  under  God,  him- 
self. He  could  not,  indeed,  have  become  the  man 
he  did  become,  if  the  Church  had  not  afforded  him 
the  opportunity  of  developing  himself;  but  many 
have  as  good  opportunity  without  improving  it.  He 
was  devout,  consecrated,  laborious.  By  God's  bless- 
ing, trials,  toils,  and  prayer,  made  him  what  he  be- 


Vlll  INTRODUCTION. 

came.  The  vessel  may  have  retained  some  tang  of 
what  it  first  held  ;  but  where  shall  we  find  a  man  who 
developed  like  him — so  beautifully  and  so  fast? 

When  his  name  was  proposed  for  the  Episcopacy 
at  the  General  Conference  of  1866 — of  which  he  was 
not  a  member — many  were  astonished  at  the  nomi- 
nation— who  was  Marvin?  But  they  were  not  more 
astonished  than  he  was,  when  he  heard  of  his  elec- 
tion to  that  high  office.  Time  has  well  vindicated 
the  wisdom  of  the  choice.  Who  is  there  like  him 
on  whom  his  mantle  may  fall  ? 

He  possessed  great  administrative  ability,  a  keen 
insight  into  men,  broad  views  and  the  power  of 
rapid  generalization — like  "  the  children  of  Issachar 
that  had  understanding  of  the  times,  and  knew  what 
Israel  ought  to  do" — he  was  easy  to  be  entreated, 
yet  firm  as  a  rock — no  one  more  fully  combining  the 
suaviter  in  modo  with  the  fortiter  in  re — the  very 
man  for  a  Methodist  Bishop  !  He  micrht  have  sat 
for  the  portrait  Paul  drew  of  a  Bishop  in  Titus  i — 
especially  was  he  "  a  lover  of  good  men  " — and  he 
was  "a  good  hater  "  too — as  David  has  it  in  Ps.  xv: 
"  In  whose  eyes  a  vile  person  is  contemned,  but  he 
honoreth  them  that  fear  the  Lord."  • 

He  was  no  "unpreaching  prelate."  He  could 
preach,  he  did  preach,  he  loved  to  preach.  He  did 
not  wait  for  doors  to  open  of  their  own  accord — he 
pushed  them  open.  He  said  with  Paul,  "Wo  is 
unto  me  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel ! " — and  like  Paul, 
he  felt  it  to  be  the  highest  honor  conferred  upon 
men  to  preach  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ, 
and  he  did  preach  it !  As  he  preached  so  often,  and 
frequently  with  but  little  opportunity  for  preparation, 
there  was  considerable  inequality  in  his  pulpit  per- 
formances— this  indeed  appears  in  his  volume  of 
Sermons.  Sometimes  his  language  was  paradoxical, 
his  method  discursive,  his  speculations  daring ;  but 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

he  never  soared  so  high  that  he  could  not  readily 
come  down  to  the  sinner's  heart,  nor  wandered  so  far 
that  he  was  not  speedily  drawn  back  to  the  cross  of 
Christ.  With  a  slight  modification,  what  Walton 
said  of  Donne  may  be  said  of  Marvin  :  "  A  preacher 
in  earnest,  weeping  sometimes  for  his  audience, 
sometimes  with  them ;  always  preaching  to  himself 
like  an  angel  from  a  cloud,  but  in  none;  carrying 
some,  as  St.  Paul  was,  to  heaven  in  holy  raptures, 
and  enticing  others  by  a  sacred  art  and  courtship  to 
amend  their  lives;  here  picturing  a  vice  so  as  to 
make  it  ugly  to  those  that  practiced  it,  and  a  virtue 
so  as  to  make  it  beloved  even  by  those  that  loved  it 
not;  and  all  this  with  a  most  particular  grace  and 
an  inexpressible  addition  of  comeliness."  Some  of 
his  sermons  will  compare  favorably  with  the  chief 
performances  of  the  English  pulpit — e.  g.y  his  sermon 
on  Christ  and  the  Church,  with  Jeremy  Taylor's 
sermon  on  "The  Marriage  Ring;"  the  latter  has 
more  learning  in  it — indeed,  a  superabundance  of  it; 
a  great  fault  in  Taylor's  works — but  Marvin's-  is 
exquisitely  beautiful,  powerful,  and  edifying — as  are 
several  others  of  his  sermons. 

He  carried  his  magnetic  powrer  with  him  into  the 
pulpit,  but  he  did  not  leave  it  there.  He  drew  all 
hearts  to  him  wherever  he  went.  In  the  Pauline 
sense,  he  was  made  all  things  to  all  men,  that  he 
might  by  all  means  save  some.  We  heard  a  Pro- 
fessor in  a  University  say  that  when  he  made  it  a 
visit,  he  modestly  inquired  into  matters  of  science 
and  learning  when  with  the  Faculty,  conversed  kindly 
and  familiarly  with  the  students,  mingled  with  them 
in  social  religious  services,  preached  like  an  angel  in 
the  pulpit,  and  encouraged  all,  gentle  and  simple, 
rich  and  poor,  learned  and  rude,  to  lead  a  life  of 
piety  and  virtue— thus  making  an  impression  upon 
all  which  time  can  never  erase.  Thus  did  he 
wherever  lie  went. 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

His  course  as  a  minister  of  Christ  was  so  success- 
ful, because  of  his  spirit  of  entire  consecration  to 
God,  and  his  incorrupt  and  holy  life.  He  did  not, 
like  so  many  "ungracious  pastors,"  preachers  and 
prelates, 

"  Show  me  the  steep  and  r horny  way  to  heaven, 
Whilst,  like  a  puffed  and  reckless  libertine, 
Himself  the  primrose  path  of  dalliance  treads, 
And  recks  not  his  own  rede." 

He  was  severe  in  his  censures  on  himself,  as  he 
was  liberal  in  his  judgment  of  others — perhaps  he 
was  a  thought  too  scrupulous  in  regard  to  his  own 
conduct — his  self-introspection  at  times  seemed  to  be 
somewhat  morbid.  But  his  strong,  abiding  faith  in 
the  atonement  and  intercession  of  Christ — themes 
on  which  he  loved  to  dwell — and  his  firm  hold  on  the 
sanctifying,  strengthening,  and  comforting  grace  of 
the  Divine  Paraclete — and  his  habits  of  prayer  and 
unremitting  labor,  made  him  one  of  the  most  joyous, 
as  he  was  one  of  the  most  holy  and  useful  men  of 
the  age  in  which  he  lived. 

How  mysterious  that  he  should  be  called  away 
"in  all  his  glorious  prime" — that  his  "sun  should 
go  down  while  it  was  yet  day  " — that  he  should  be 
summoned  from  labor,  when  he  was  in  full  activity 
of  zeal  and  power!'  But  then  we  know  that  the 
"  Nunc  dimittis  "  comes  at  the  proper  period. 

"A  Christian  cannot  die  before  his  time, 
The  Lord's  appointment  is  the  servant's  hour." 

For  several  years  I  have  expected  him  to  die  at 
an  early  date.  The  autopsy — the  report  of  'which 
I  have  before  me — confirms  my  judgment  concern- 
ing him.  If  he  had  not  performed  that  excessive 
service  on  Sunday,  a  week  before  his  death— if  he 
had  not  by  exposure  contracted  pneumonia  which 
"hurried  him  hence* --•-  hb  physicians  assufe  us  that 
his  days  were  numbered,  and'  they  would  not  have 


INTRODUCTION.  xi 

been  many.  He  was  evidently  ripening  in  every 
sense  for  that  celestial  city  whose  glory  he  so  en- 
chantingly  described  in  the  last  sermon  which  he 
preached,  exulting  in  the  prospect  of  entering  into 
that  "  city  so  holy  and  clean." 

"The  New  Jerusalem  on  high, 
Hath  one  pervading  sanctity; 
No  sin  to  mourn,  no  grief  to  mar, 
God  and  the  Lamb  its  temple  are!" 

He  has   entered   through  the   gates  into  the  city. 
Our  "  Enoch  walked  with  God,  and  he  was  not,  for 
God  took    him" — and  he   is   "ever  with  the  Lord  ' 
he  loved  so  much,  and  served  so  well. 

Donne  quaintly  but  strikingly  says,  "  We  beg 
one  baptism  with  another,  a  sacrament  of  tears  ;  and 
we  come  into  a  world  that  lasts  many  ages,  but  we 
last  not.  In  domo  Patris  (says  our  blessed  Saviour, 
speaking  of  heaven)  multce  mansiones.  There  are 
many,  and  mansions  divers  and  durable ;  so  that  if 
a  man  cannot  possess  a  martyr's  house  (he  hath  shed 
no  blood  for  Christ),  yet  he  may  have  a  confessor's 
■ — he  hath  been  ready  to  glorify  God,  in  the  shed- 
ding of  his  blood."  So  was  it  with  our  Marvin  :  if 
he  did  not  belong  to  "  the  noble  army  of  martyrs," 
he  had  a  confessor's  spirit,  and  will  wear  a  confes- 
sor's crown — which  is  scarcely  less  brilliant  (some- 
times more  so)  than  a  martyr's — as  it  requires,  in 
some  instances,  more  faith  and  love  to  live  for  Christ 
than  to  die  for  him. 

It  seems  strange  that  when  by  his  previous  labors, 
and  especially  his  late  missionary  tour,  he  was  so  emi- 
nently equipped  and  qualified  for  his  work  he  should 
be  so  suddenly  taken  from  it.  But  God  makes  no 
mistakes.  When  Herod  "  killed  James  the  brother 
of  John  with  the  sword" — thus  breaking  again  the 
sacred  number  of  the  apostolic  college  before  they 
had  hardly  begun  their  great  work  of  evangelizing 


Xll  INTRODUCTION. 

the  world,  the  Head  of  the  Church  had  "  a  chosen 
vessel"  that  he  was  preparing  for  the  apostolic  office 
— one  who  became  equal  in  ability  and  service 
to  the  chief  of  the  apostles — in  labors  more  abun- 
dant and  more  successful,  we  may  well  believe,  than 
the  martyred  apostle  whose  place  he  filled  could 
have  been,  had  his  life  been  spared.  Devout  men 
have  carried  Marvin  to  his  burial,  and  the  Church 
all  over  the  land  has  made  great  lamentation  over 
him — and  well  it  might,  for  "  there  is  a  prince  and  a 
great  man  fallen  in  Israel."  Now  let  us  do  as  the 
disciples  of  John  did,  when  he  was  martyred  by 
Herod  Antipas — they  "took  up  the  body,  and 
buried  it,  and  went  and  told  Jesus"  Let  us  tell  him 
how  poignantly  we  feel  our  loss — though  he  knows 
all  about  it — and  let  us  ask  him  to  fill  the  place  of 
our  fallen  chief,  by  one  of  whom  it  may  be  said, 
"  The  spirit  of  Elijah  doth  rest  on  Elisha  ! ' 

The  publication  of  this  book,  in  an  attractive  style, 
it  is  devoutly  hoped,  will  greatly  promote  the  cause 
in  which  its  author  spent  his  life.  It  is  commended 
to  a  wide  circulation.  Let  it  be  put  into  every  family 
and  Sunday-school  library,  that  its  perusal  may 
excite  both  old  and  young  to  emulate  the  zeal  and 
devotion  of  its  now  glorified  author. 

Thos.  O.  Summers. 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  Dec.  10,  i8jy. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  VOYAGE. 

ON  WEDNESDAY,  Nov.  I,  1876, 1  left  the  house 
of  Mr.  Goad,  "mine  host"  in  San  Francisco, 
and  made  my  way  to  the  good  ship  Alaska,  on 
board  of  which,  by  the  thoughtful  foresight  of  my 
traveling  companion,  one  of  the  best  state-rooms  had 
been  secured.  He  and  I  had  each  a  room,  and  the 
two  rooms  opened  into  each  other. 

Several  brethren,  some  of  whom  had  come  fifty 
miles  for  the  purpose,  came  on  board  to  take  leave  of 
us.  We  had  had  the  "communion  of  the  body  and 
blood  of  the  Lord"  together  the  evening  before,  and 
now  with  prayer  and  a  tender  love,  like  that  of  apos- 
tolic times,  they  dismissed  us  to  our  distant  work, 
and  we  parted  from  them  not  without  emotion. 

On  board  we  wrote  "good-by"  postal  cards  to  our 
families,  and  promptly  at  the  hour  advertised,  our 
ropes  were  unfastened,  the  signal  was  given,  a  steam- 
tug  was  fastened  to  our  bow,  and  we  were  towed 
out  into  the  Bay.  Soon  our  motion  was  arrested, 
and  we  stopped  in  the  middle  of  the  Bay  for 
the  mails.  The  post-master  had  been  a  trifle  slow, 
and  our  prompt  captain  would  not  wait,  but  was 
about  to  be  off,  mail  or  no  mail.  A  signal  arrested 
him,  however,  and  he  waited  until  a  tug  brought  it 
out  and  delivered  it  on  board, 


14  THE   VOYAGE. 

As  we  drifted  from  the  wharf  our  friends  stood 
waving  us  their  final  adieus.  We  noted  the  spot 
where  they  stood,  and  long  after  their  features  were 
lost,  and  as  long  as  a  white  handkerchief  was  vis- 
ible, they  still  signaled  us  their  love  and  their 
prayers.  One  lady  had  notified  us  that  she  would 
have  a  white  flag  afloat  for  us  on  her  house, 
which  commands  the  Bay  almost  to  the  ocean.  We 
did  our  best,  with  a  good  glass,  to  discover  it,  but  it 
was  too  far  away.  But  we  knew  it  was  there,  and 
that  was  sufficient.  So  it  is  with  many  of  the  best 
things — we  know  they  are  there,  though  we  see  them 
not.  The  divinest  things  are  beyond  the  range  of 
vision,  but  we  know  they  are  there,  and  that  sufficeth 
for  our  joy. 

The  white  flag !  It  was  an  appropriate  symbol  of 
our  mission,  which  was  that  of  our  Master.  Our 
voyage  to  the  East  was  on  a  mission  of  peace  to  the 
nations — peace  and  purity.  We  go  in  the  name  of 
the  King  of  Salem.  Righteousness  and  peace  are 
the  fruit  of  his  dominion,  and  the  white  banner  dis- 
misses his  messengers  upon  their  enterprises  of  love. 

We  soon  steamed  past  Goat  Island  and  Alcatraz, 
and  passed  out  through  the  Golden  Gate  into  the 
"wide,  wide  sea."  In  a  short  time  the  shore-line 
began  to  sink,  and  the  Farralone  Islands  came  in 
sight.  These  we  passed  just  at  sunset,  and  we  shall 
see  no  more  land  until  we  get  to  the  shores  of  Japan. 
After  dinner  we  went  on  deck  to  take  our  last  view 
of  our  "  native  land."  We  could  see  nothing  but  the 
revolving  light  of  the  light-house  on  the  islands — for 
it  was  night.  The  last  we  saw  of  our  country  was  a 
blaze  of  light.     We  took  joy  from  that.     Will  the 


THE    VOYAGE.  I  5 

God  of  our  fathers  bring  us  back  in  peace?     His  will 
be  done ! 

I  count  myself  happy  in  that  I  go  not  upon  this 
journey  alone.  My  traveling  companion  is  the  Rev. 
Eugene  R.  Hendrix,  of  the  Missouri  Conference. 
His  education  and  instincts  alike  prepare  him  for  the 
tour,  which  he  has  been  contemplating  for  several 
years.  He  has  read  much  with  a  view  to  it,  and  is 
my  vade  mecutn — a  most  convenient  and  complete 
one.  This  is  not  a  trip  for  pleasure,  merely,  with  him, 
nor  one  of  curiosity;  but  prompted  mainly  by  a  de- 
sire to  see  the  battle  as  it  rages  along  the  front  lines 
of  the  army  of  invasion  and  occupation,  by  which 
the  Son  of  God  is  going  forward  to  the  conquest  of 
the  world.  He  has  been  greatly  instrumental  in  the 
recent  enlargement  of  our  work  in  China,  and  is  pro- 
foundly concerned  for  the  glory  and  kingdom  of 
Christ.  This  is  the  chief  source  of  his  desire  to  see 
the  world.  It  is  in  the  world,  as  it  belongs  to  the 
Lord  of  life  and  glory,  that  he  is  interested — a  world 
that  belongs  to  Christ,  but  is  yet  alienated  from  him, 
and  which  he  has  commissioned  his  people  to  recover 
to  himself. 

Whea  he  learned  of  my  contemplated  tour,  he  im- 
mediately proposed  to  be  my  companion  of  the  way. 
I  had  known  him  from  his  bovhood,  and  received 
the  proposal  with  delight.  His  presence  will  con- 
tribute much  to  the  objects  of  the  tour,  will  be  a 
great  pleasure  to  me,  will  afford  me  much  of  that 
deep  and  hallowed  experience  which  is  realized  in 
the  ••'fellowship  pf  saints."  ancf  be  helpful  to  me  in 
many  was-. 

We  haye  not  a  great  many  first-class  passengers-^ 


1 6  THE    VOYAGE. 

only  about  twenty-five  or  thirty,  and  I  am  glad  to  see 
that  we  are  not  to  be  troubled  much  with  the  class  so 
expressively  denominated  snobs.  For  the  most  part 
they  seem  to  be  sensible,  well-disposed,  and  well- 
behaved  people. 

Among  them  is  the  Rev.  William  Dean,  of  the 
Baptist  Mission  at  Bangkok,  Siam.  He  is  a  venera- 
ble man,  who  has  been  for  forty  years  and  more 
engaged  in  missionary  labors  in  Siam  and  Southern 
China.  He  is  full  of  information  that  will  be  very 
valuable  to  me,  has  a  clear  view  and  strong  sense  of 
all  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen,  and  yet  rejoices  in  the  inspiration  of  an 
assured  faith  in  the  ultimate  and  early  subjugation  of 
these  nations  to  Christ.  Even  from  a  rational  and 
human  stand-point  he  thinks  the  indications  are  all  of 
a  most  assuring  character. 

There  is  also  a  young  lady,  a  Miss  Thompson, 
on  her  way  to  China  to  labor  as  a  teacher  in 
connection  with  the  Baptist  Mission.  She  is  un- 
der a  contract  with  the  Board  not  to  marry  for  five 
years. 

There  are  also  on  board  four  Japanese  in  American 
costume.  They  are  good-looking  men,  and  of  a 
complexion  not  too  dark  to  be  agreeable.  One  of 
them,  especially,  impresses  me  very  favorably.  He 
looks  for  all  the  world  just  like  Dr.  Summers,  if  you 
can  imagine  the  Doctor  of  an  orange  color— no,  not 
orange,  that  is  too  yellow,  but  of  the  complexion  of 
my  ascended  friend,  Alejo  Hernandez,  who  was  the 
first-fruits  of  Mexico,  This  Jap  is  like  Dr.  S.  in  the 
shape  of  the  head,  the  forehead,  the  nose,  the  face, 
the  mouth,  the  eyes— -except  the  color— the  expres- 


THE    VOYAGE.  1 7 

sion,  and  even  the  spectacles.     He  is  also  evidently 
a  student  and  a  scholar. 

I  intend  to  become  acquainted  with  these  men,  and 
find  out  what  manner  of  spirit  they  are  of.  They 
have  very  much  the  air  of  intelligent  American  citi- 
zens in  their  pantaloons  and  frock  coats.  I  suppose 
they  have  been  attending  some  college,  as  they 
speak  English  very  well. 

The  preceding  was  written  two  days  ago.  I  have 
since  learned  that  one  of  the  four  Japs — the  one  who 
resembles  Dr.  S. — has  been  five  years  at  Amherst 
College,  and  has  become  a  very  intelligent  and 
earnest  Christian.  The  other  three  have  been  at 
school  in  Germany,  and  are  returning  home  infidels. 

Tall  Wuyesugi — pronounced  Weeyasuge — is  the 
name  of  the  Amherst  student.  He  says  the  Japanese 
are  becoming  infidels  rapidly.  They  have  outgrown 
Sintooism,  and  have  no  other  religion  to  take  its 
place.  He  hopes  that  when  the  word  of  God  becomes 
widely  disseminated  they  Will  embrace  it,  but  the 
almost  universal  tendency  now  is  to  infidelity.  From 
a  ridiculous  and  absurd  faith  the  drift  is  to  no  faith. 
Is  not  this  the  opportune  moment  for  the  Church  ? 

Our  ship  is  rather  an  old  one,  but  very  sound  and 
solidly  built.  Being  a  side-wheeler,  it  does  not  roll  so 
much  as  the  screw  propellers.  It  is  in  fact  the  most 
steady-going  ship  I  have  ever  traveled  upon.  The 
motion  is  so  slight  that  there  is  very  little  sea-sick- 
ness on  board.  The  weather  favors  us  too — yet  the 
ground-swell  is  as  great  as  when  I  came  down  from 
Portland  to  San  Francisco,  and  on  that  trip  one-half 
the  passengers  were  laid  aside. 

Captain  Howard   is    a  gentleman  of  large  intelli- 


1 8  THE    VOYAGE. 

gcnce,  affable,  communicative,  accommodating.  We 
are  beginning  to  be  quite  at  home  with  him  and  all 
the  officers,  who  conspire  to  render  our  voyage  agree- 
able. 

All  the  crew  are  Chinese.  The  Captain  is  a  great 
admirer  of  the  Chinese.  He  affirms  that  they  are  the 
most  efficient  servants  in  the  world.  As  sailors  they 
have  no  superiors,  and  as  cooks  and  waiters  no  equals. 
I  must  say  that  an  experience  of  three  days  now  goes 
far  to  confirm  this  opinion  with  me,  so  far  as  the  pantry 
and  dining-room  are  concerned.  I  have  never  seen 
this  service  so  perfectly  done.  They  are  polite,  alert, 
expert,  attentive,  and  noiseless.  Any  call  is  instantly 
attended  to,  and  ail  is  done  without  confusion.  It  is 
admirable ! 

There  are  five  hundred  and  seventy-one  Chinese 
steerage  passengers  returning  home.  As  to  cleanli- 
ness and  general  good  conduct  I  do  not  see  that 
they  rank  below  the  average  of  laboring  men  in  the 
great  cities.  But  they  are  gambling  almost  con- 
stantly. Look  down  into  the  steerage  when  you 
will,  they  are  throwing  dice,  in  groups,  seated  on  the 
floor,  and  exchanging  counters. 

Wednesday  we  set  sail  en  a  beautiful  day,  Thurs- 
day the  sky  was  overspread  with  thin  clouds,  Friday 
it  rained  the  greater  part  of  the  day,  and  Saturday — 
to-day — there  are  clouds  about,  but  the  sun  is  out 
the  greater  part  of  the  time.  Under  these  varying 
conditions  of  the  sky,  I  have  been  greatly  interested 
in  studying  the  various  aspects  of  the  water,  I  have 
often  heard  of  the  green  sea  and  fhe  deep-blue  sea. 
In  shallow  water  the  §ea  is  green,  in  deep  water  blue, 
under   a  clear   sky.       But   the   hue   changes   under 


THE    VOYAGE.  tQ 

changing  skies,  and  the  tints  of  the  water  respond  to 
all  the  varying  shades  of  reflected  light  that  fall  upon 
it.  I  despair  of  giving  any  one  who  never  saw  it  any 
idea  of  the  almost  infinite  varieties  of  coloring  I  have 
seen  in  the  morning,  at  mid-day,  at  sunset,  under  a 
clear  sky,  under  broken  clouds,  under  thin  clouds, 
under  heavy  clouds,  at  night,  under  the  moon,  with- 
out a  moon — blue,  brown,  gray,  purple,  cinnamon, 
orange,  russet,  lead-color,  steel,  opal,  and  a  thousand 
nameless  tints,  all  shading  into  each  other  and  modi- 
fying each  other  as  the  light  shifts  in  the  clouds,  and 
all  rendered  into  expressions  of  heightened  bea\ity 
by  the  agitation  of  the  waves.  Sometimes  in  heavy 
shadings  a  section  of  the  water  will  look  like  ink, 
while  within  the  sweep  of  vision  a  score  of  lighter 
tints  will  greet  the  eye.  When  the  sun  is  out,  as  you 
look  seaward  at  a  certain  angle  every  wavelet  is 
tipped  with  diamond. 

Last  night,  when  the  moon  was  at  an  angle  of  ten 
degrees  with  the  eastern  horizon,  a  broad  pathway  of 
pearl  strewed  the  ocean  under  her  smile,  while  both 
to  the  northward  and  southward  heavy  clouds 
frowned  upon  the  water,  and  the  darkness,  in  con- 
trast with  the  glow  toward  the  east,  seemed  not  mere 
darkness,  but  something  more  positive.  This  imme- 
diate vicinity  and  contrast  of  glow  and  gloom  pro- 
duced a  strange  effect  upon  me.  It  was  a  fascina- 
tion. There  was  a  subdued  sense  of  exaltation. 
Existence  seemed  to  come  into  a  new  expression, 
and  infinite  mysteries  to  be  half  disclosed,  but  yet 
concealed;  and  to  offer  their  import  at  just  the  dis- 
tance to  tantalize  you  most  deeply. 

The   gulls  that  followed  us  two  days  are  all  gone 


20  THE   VOYAGE. 

now,  but  they  are  replaced  by  a  more  graceful  bird 
— the  gannet.  Three  or  four  of  them  float  along  on 
their  long,  narrow  wings,  often  so  near  the  surface  of 
the  water  that,  turning  one  wing  downward,  the  tip 
of  it  actually  grazes  the  water,  and  so  they  skim 
along  for  some  distance.  They  seem  really  to  relish 
this  quiet  sort  of  sport. 

After  the  lapse  of  two  days,  I  resume  again.  The 
Sabbath  is  passed.  By  invitation  of  the  Captain  I 
preached  in  the  social  hall  at  half-past  ten.  The 
venerable  Dr.  Dean  concluded  the  service.  The 
greater  part  of  the  passengers  attended  devoutly. 
There  was  a  solemn  sense  of  the  presence  of  God 
among  us.  A  subdued  spirit  pervaded  the  vessel 
during  the  remainder  of  the  day.  After  dinner — 
which  is  at  six — there  was  sacred  music,  and  several 
hymns  were  sung  in  the  social  hall.  I  have  never 
passed  a  Sunday  on  ship-board  which  was  so  Sab- 
bath-like. At  lunch  the  Captain  entered  freely  and 
seriously  into  conversation  with  me.  He  spoke  of 
his  Methodist  wife  training  her  children  in  the  fear 
of  the  Lord,  and  of  his  aged  Baptist  father  joyfully 
waiting  for  his  change,  with  tears  in  his  eyes.  He 
was  deeply  touched  by  the  service. 

Brother  H.  and  I  are  reading  the  Bible  in  both 
Testaments,  in  course,  with  conversational  comment 
in  connection  with  our  morning  prayers.  For  this 
our  double  state-room  is  very  convenient.  In  these 
readings  and  prayers  we  come  very  near  to  God. 

We  are  likely  to  have  a  long  voyage,  as  the  Alaska 
is  one  of  the  slowest  of  the  line,  and  the  weather, 
though  pleasant,  is  not  very  favorable  to  speed. 


CHAPTER  II. 

DAI    NIPPON. 

ON  THURSDAY  morning,  Nov.  30,  when  we 
went  out  on  deck,  a  little  before  sunrise,  we  saw 
ahead  the  low  mountain-ranges  on  the  coast  of 
Dai  Nippon. 

On  our  maps  at  home  the  principal  one  of  the 
islands  of  the  Japan  group  is  named  Niphon.  The 
native  word  here  is  Nippon  ;  and  this  is  the  name,  not 
simply  of  this  one  island,  but  of  the  whole  country. 
Japan  is  the  name  given  to  it  by  foreigners,  not  by  the 
natives  themselves. 

As  we  steamed  up  toward  the  entrance  to  the  Gulf 
of  Yeddo,  Fuji  Ama  soon  came  into  view.  It  is  a 
beautiful  elevation,  conical,  and,  at  this  season  of  the 
year,  covered  with  snow.  It  is  12,000  feet  high,  and 
dominates  the  landscape  in  every  direction  for  a  hun- 
dred miles.  But  my  recent  familiarity  with  Mount 
Hood,  in  Oregon,  had  in  some  degree  disqualified  me 
for  the  enthusiasm  expected  of  every  one  on  his  first 
view  of  this  peerless  monarch  of  the  great  Nippon 
range. 

It  was  one  o'clock  when  we  came  in  sight  of  Yoko- 
hama; but  we  had  already  seen  much  of  Japan  before 
we  went  ashore.  Native  towns  stand  thick  all  along 
the  coasts  of  the  bay,  and  with  our  glasses  we  got  a 
good  view  of  them.     Besides  that,  the  bay  was  cov- 


22  DAI    NIPPON. 

ered  with  little  fishing  boats,  and  here  and  there  we 
saw  a  junk.  We  also  passed  a  native  war  steamer — 
very  small — intended,  I  suppose,  for  police  duty  in 
the  bay.  But  it  had  a  trim  look  and  bounded  along 
over  the  waters  very  gracefully.  The  government 
has  a  few  really  formidable  ships  in  its  nascent  navy, 
which  have  been  purchased  of  European  or  Amer- 
ican governments.  Among  others,  I  had  pointed 
out  to  me  the  great  Confederate  iron-clad,  Stonewall. 
The  name  has  been  changed,  and  she  now  wears 
some  unpronounceable  Japanese  name.  She  has  a 
formidable,  stubborn  look,  worthy  of  her  history  and 
her  former  name. 

We  steamed  up  the  bay  against  a  headwind  that 
was  almost  a  gale.  For  four  weeks  we  had  seen  no 
life  except  that  which  was  on  board  with  us.  Not 
one  sail  did  we  sight  on  the  entire  voyage,  and  the 
few  gannets  that  followed  us  for  our  crumbs  were  the 
only  living  creatures  that  showed  themselves.  But 
now,  at  the  end  of  a  month,  here  we  are  in  this  popu- 
lous bay,  covered  with  white  sail,  and  fringed  with 
towns.  It  was  a  pleasant  sensation  that  arose  upon 
our  sudden  advent  into  the  world  of  human  life  again, 
and  we  could  scarcely  realize  that  it  was  a  heathen 
world. 

It  was  near  two  o'clock  when  Ave  came  to  anchor, 
half  a  mile  out  from  the  wharves.  Already  a  fleet  of 
little  boats  crowded  about  the  place,  eager  for  a  job. 
Among  them  were  a  few  more  prententious  ones, 
representing  the  hotels  of  the  city,  which  come,  like 
omnibuses,  to  convey  the  guests  to  their  destination. 
These  floated  their  flags  and  names — "  Grand  Hotel," 
"International,"  "  Oriental,"  and  I  believe  there  was 


DAI    NIPPON.  23 

a  fourth,  the  name  of  which  I  do  not  recall.  The 
runners  came  on  board,  and  offered  their  tickets  in  a 
polite  way,  that  contrasted  very  pleasantly  with  the 
rude  and  boisterous  urgency  of  those  you  often  meet 
at  home. 

So  soon  as  the  ladder  was  lowered,  the  scramble  of 
the  boats  began.  A  little  craft,  propelled  by  steam, 
and  carrying  American  colors,  came  in  first  for  the 
mails,  and  after  that  it  was  a  free  fight.  The  strong- 
est and  most  persistent  got  in  first. 

Soon  a  young  man  greeted  me,  and  although  he 
had  grown  up  from  mere  boyhood  since  I  had  seen 
him,  he  need  not  have  announced  his  name;  I  knew 
him  instantly.  It  was  young  Merriman,  formerly  of 
St.  Louis.  He  was  followed  in  a  short  time  bv  the 
Rev.  R.  S.  Maclay,  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  who  is  the 
Superintendent  of  the  Mission  in  Japan.  We  had  been 
already  invited  to  the  hospitalities  of  his  house.  So 
soon  as  we  could  get  through  the  press  we  got  our- 
selves and  our  baggage  on  board  of  a  little  native 
boat,  and  started  for  the  shore.  Our  boat  would  be 
called  a  skiff,  though  it  differed  in  shape  and  general 
appearance  from  an  American  skiff,  and,  as  ail  Ja- 
panese crafts  of  its  class  are,  was  propelled  by 
sculling  instead  of  rowing. 

Once  landed,  we  were  in  a  strange  world — we  were 
among  the  Orientals.  Our  baggage  was  submitted 
to  inspection  at  the  Custom-House,  and  then  we  were 
invited  by  Dr.  M.  to  take  our  choice  of  jin-rik  i-slia. 
These  little  carriages  on  two  wheels  have  a  stand  at 
this  convenient  place,  and  were  there  in  great  num- 
bers, waiting  for  a  job.  The  word  jinrikisha  means, 
literally,  a  man-power  carriage.     They  are  a  recent  in-* 


2\  DAI    NIPPON. 

vention — the  product,  in  fact,  of  American  civilization 
in  Japan.  The  bed  is  constructed  somewhat  after  the 
model  of  a  buggy,  and  has  a  top  that  may  be  raised 
or  lowered  as  that  of  a  buggy  is.  Each  one  is  de- 
signed to  carry  one  man;  but  when  the  native  Japs 
take  a  ride,  two  often  crowd  in.  One  man  be- 
tween the  shafts  constitutes  the  team.  Imagine  my 
feelings,  to  be  drawn  by  a  man  in  shafts,  as  if  he  were 
a  horse !  I  was  literally  ashamed  of  myself.  Talk 
about  Southern  slavery !  The  average  negro  in  the 
South  was  a  lord,  compared  with  the  coolie  of  the 
East. 

It  was  Thanksgiving  day,  and  our  friends  had  been 
invited  to  dine  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ballagh,  of  the 
Dutch  Reformed  Church.  He  was  one  of  the  first, 
if  not  the  very  first,  missionary  in  Japan.  We  could 
scarcely  realize  that  we  were  on  a  foreign  shore. 
Here  we  were,  dining  with  Americans,  in  a  house  of 
the  American  style,  with  genial,  cultivated  American 
people,  and  on  the  American  Thanksgiving  day ! 
But  it  was  in  the  East,  and  our  ride  in  the  jinrikisha 
had  fairly  introduced  us  into  it.  I  think  no  man  can 
lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  he  is  in  another  world,  after 
having  taken  a  ride  by  man-power. 

Soon  after  dinner,  as  the  night  fell,  we  repaired  to 
the  pleasant  home  of  Dr.  Maclay,  where  we  had  a 
welcome  as  warm  as  if  it  had  been  among  our  kin- 
dred. 

As  we  had  less  than  a  week  to  appropriate  to  Japan, 
wre  must  needs  bestir  ourselves  to  see  what  was  to  be 
seen,  and  so  we  arranged  to  go,  in  company  with  our 
host,  to  Kamakura.  This  was  at  one  time  the  capi- 
tal of  the  empire;  but  that  was  two  or  three  hundred 


DAI   NIPPON.  25 

years  ago.  There  still  remain,  however,  sufficient 
relics  of  its  former  glory  to  make  it  a  locality  of 
great  interest.  So,  after  an  early  breakfast,  our  carri- 
ages were  at  the  door — three  of  them — with  a  team 
of  two  men  to  each  ;  for  the  ride  was  to  be  a  long  one, 
and  so  we  must  have  an  adequate  team — one  in  the 
shafts,  and  one  to  push  from  behind. 

The  morning  was  frosty,  the  air  crisp  and  bracing, 
and  our  teams  struck  a  trot.  Away  we  went,  through 
the  suburbs,  and  out  through  the  rice-fields,  by  roads 
that  were  never  made  for  carriages,  over  bridges  that 
were  not  made  for  horses — on  and  on,  until  I  felt  the 
most  painful  sense  of  compassion  for  our  men.  See 
how  the  perspiration  pours  out  this  frosty  morning, 
until  their  scanty  clothing  is  as  wet  as  that  of  a  harvest 
hand  in  July  !  But  on  they  go — on  and  on — still  in 
a  trot.  Indeed  it  was  a  team  of  admirable  spirit. 
Think  of  your  horses  looking  back  to  see  that  they 
were  placing  your  wheels  on  the  safe  places,  as  you 
cross  over  the  unsafe  bridges.  What  stupid  brutes 
your  American  horses  are  ! 

The  country  through  which  we  passed  fairly  swarms 
with  villages ;  every  inch  of  available  soil  is  in  culti- 
vation, and  the  amount  of  labor  expended  on  every 
acre  is  something  wonderful.  Even  wheat  is  planted 
by  the  hand,  in  rows,  and  cultivated  with  the  hoe. 
Along  the  roadside  we  found  rice  spread  out  on  mats 
to  dry ;  for  the  harvest  is  just  over.  Indeed  we  saw 
one  man  cutting  the  last  corner  of  his  patch.  Some 
were  threshing  it — that  is,  drawing  it  through  long 
iron  teeth  projecting  from  the  end  of  a  board,  to  re- 
move the  grains ;  some  were  cleaning  it  with  their 
primitive  fans ;  some  were  beating  it  in  mortars,  to 


26  DAI    NIPPON. 

hull  it ;  and  some  were  putting  it  up  in  the  coarse 
sacks  of  matting  used  for  that  purpose. 

Twelve  miles  soon  passed  away  amid  these  new 
scenes,  and  we  found  ourselves  whirling  through  the 
old  capital.  Emerging  again  into  the  country,  we 
stopped,  and  entered  the  precincts  of  an  old  temple, 
or  what  seemed  to  have  been  several  temples.  It  lay 
in  a  cove  in  the  low  mountains,  in  a  setting  of  natural 
scenery  that  was  very  picturesque.  There  are  a  good 
many  buildings  which  I  cannot  describe,  many  of 
them  falling  into  decay.  Some,  however,  are  kept  in 
repair  by  a  few  Buddhist  priests  that  seem  to  haunt 
the  grounds  like  ghosts.  Indeed  I  have  been  half 
tempted  since  to  believe  they  must  be  ghosts ;  for 
they  were  the  only  priests  we  saw  who  did  not  have 
some  contrivance  for  collecting  fees.  But  there  was 
a  deserted  air  about  the  whole  place.  The  objects  of 
greatest  interest  were  some  caves  and  niches,  cut  into 
the  solid  rock  in  the  side  of  the  mountain,  in  which 
there  were  some  images ;  and  a  monster  bell.  This 
bell  is  upon  the  summit  of  the  loftiest  hill  around  the 
cove.  You  ascend  to  it  by  a  long  flight  of  stone 
steps,  laid  upon  the  steep  ascent,  and  when  you  reach 
the  top  you  overlook  the  entire  cove  and  all  the  build- 
ings below.  The  bell  is  suspended  under  a  mere 
shed,  upon  a  very  massive  frame.  It  is  of  a  peculiar 
shape — that  is,  peculiar  to  the  eye  of  a  foreigner — 
though  all  the  large  bells  I  have  seen  here  are  of  the 
same  pattern.  The  peculiarity  is,  they  are  unusually 
deep  from  top  to  bottom,  as  they  hang.  This  one  is 
fourteen  feet  in  girth  and  seven  feet  high,  and  being 
oval  at  the  top,  it  soon  reaches  its  full  size,  and  has 
very  much  the  shape  of  an  inverted  goblet.     It  is  cov- 


DAI    NIPPON.  2/ 

ered  over  with  inscriptions  from  sacred  books,  in  the 
Chinese  character.  The  metal  is  five  inches  thick.  It 
has  no  clapper,  but  is  rung  on  this  wise  :  A  log  of 
wood,  six  or  eight  inches  in  diameter  and  about  eight 
feet  long,  is  suspended  in  a  horizontal  position,  by  two 
chains — one  near  each  end — one  end  being,  as  it 
hangs  in  rest,  about  eighteen  inches  from  the  side  of 
the  bell,  and  opposite  to  a  round  section  of  the  sur- 
face, raised  a  little  to  receive  the  blow.  The  bell  is 
rung  by  raising  this  battering-ram,  or  rather  drawing 
it  back  from  the  bell  as  far  as  the  chains  will  allow, 
and  suddenly  letting  it  go.  The  impulse  brings  the 
end  against  the  bell,  and  the  stroke  wakes  the 
echoes.  It  was  rung  for  us  several  times,  and  I 
thought  the  tone  very  impressive. 

As  we  descended  from  the  bell,  returning  to  the 
place  where  we  had  left  our  jinrikishas,  we  passed 
by  an  old  temple,  now  used  as  a  school-house,  in 
which  there  is  a  public  school  taught — one  of  the 
many  supported  by  the  government  all  over  the 
empire.  We  turned  aside  to  see  how  a  Japanese 
school  is  managed.  An  usher  met  us  at  the  door, 
and  soon  the  master,  a  very  young  man,  appeared. 
He  was  delighted  with  our  visit.  Nothing  would  do 
but  we  must  come  in.  Two  of  the  larger  children 
were  sent  off  for  chairs  for  us  to  sit  on.  Dr.  Maclay 
explained  to  us  that  the  text-books,  which  he  exam- 
ined, were  all  recent  translations  of  American  books. 
The  teacher  must  needs  have  us  to  witness  some  of 
the  exercises  of  his  pupils,  and  so  he  rubbed  out  the 
Chinese  characters  that  covered  the  blackboard,  and 
set  down  some  examples  in  arithmetic,  all  in  Arabic 
numerals,  with  the  minus,  plus,  and  other  signs,  taken 


28  DAI    NIPPON. 

from  the  American  books  so  lately  introduced. 
These  public  schools  are  one  of  the  many  signs  of 
the  times  in  this  singular  nation.  I  shall  have  more 
to  say  of  them  hereafter. 

From  this  point  we  went  on  about  a  mile  to  another 
and  more  magnificent  temple,  to  which  we  ascended 
by  a  flight  of  fifty  stone  steps,  at  the  end  of  a  beau- 
tiful paved  avenue.  The  matters  of  principal  inter- 
est here  are  relics  of  the  old  Shoguns,  who  were  the 
actual  emperors,  although  they  did  everything  in  the 
name  of  the  Mikado.  There  are  massive  helmets 
and  coats  of  mail,  worn  by  those  military  chieftains 
over  five  hundred  years  ago.  There  are  also  the 
most  elegant  swords  and  other  implements  of  warfare, 
as  well  as  the  writing  apparatus  of  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  of  the  old  heroes.  All  this  was  shown 
for  a  small  fee,  by  the  Buddhist  priest  in  attendance. 

We  soon  saw  all  of  this  display  that  we  cared  to 
see,  and  took  to  our  man-carriages  again,  to  be  trot- 
ted off  two  miles  to  see  the  celebrated  Dai  Butsu — 
pronounced  here  Di  Bootz.  Butsu  is  the  Japanese 
name  g^  Buddha,  and  Dai  means  great.  Dai  Butsu 
— the  great  Buddha.  It  is  a  colossal  image,  forty- 
four  feet  high,  and  at  the  largest  part  twenty  feet  in 
diameter  from  front  to  rear,  and  twenty-five  feet  from 
side  to  side.  It  is  of  fine  bronze,  cast  in  sections, 
the  metal  not  being  more  than  two  or  three  inches 
thick,  so  that  the  image  is  perfectly  hollow.  It  rests 
on  a  foundation  of  stone  about  five  feet  high,  a  door 
opening  through  the  foundation  to  the  interior.  Half 
way  up  the  back,  or  a  little  more,  are  two  small 
windows,  and  just  below  the  windows  there  is  a  rude 
platform,  reached  by  a  ladder,     Mounting  this  we 


DAI    NIPPON.  29 

were  fairly  in  the  bosom  of  Buddha — which  is  Nir- 
vana, the  Buddhist  heaven.  So  you  see  in  what 
celestial  regions  we  have  been ! 

Returning  to  the  outside,  we  got  a  ladder,  ascended 
to  the  hands,  found  the  thumbs  to  be  three  feet  in 
circumference,  and  the  nails  of  the  thumbs  four 
inches  by  six.  The  image  is  seated,  with  the  feet 
under  the  body,  and,  like  most  of  the  images  of 
Buddha,  rests  in  a  lotus  flower,  there  being  a  popular 
tradition  that  he  came  across  the  ocean  from  India  to 
Japan  on  a  lotus-blossom.  Massive  as  this  figure  is, 
the  proportions  are  well  preserved,  every  part  being 
in  keeping  with  the  rest,  and  it  is  certainly  a  marvel 
of  art.  The  pose  of  the  body,  the  set  of  the  head,  and, 
above  all,  the  expression  of  the  face,  combine  to  real- 
ize the  ideal  of  perfect  repose.  I  never  saw  any  ideal 
more  palpably  or  fully  realized.  Perfect  tranquillity 
of  spirit  is  in  every  feature  of  the  face  and  in  the 
posture  of  the  body.  In  nearly  all  of  the  images 
here  there  is  something  grotesque,  something  un- 
natural, but  not  so  with  Dai  Butsu.  Every  thing  is 
natural  and  comely,  the  proportions  and  attitude 
being  exactly  in  keeping  with  the  ideal. 

We  extended  our  trip  from  Dai  Butsu  along  the 
shore  of  the  Bay,  to  visit  the  island  of  Enoshema, 
which  is  accessible  on  foot  when  the  tide  is  low.  But 
the  tide  was  up  now,  and  we  were  not  disposed  to 
wade.  Three  Japs,  with  powerful  frames,  offered  us 
their  shoulders  for  a  ride.  But  it  was  getting  late, 
and  we  determined  to  retrace  our  steps.  Soon  strik- 
ing the  Tokaido,  we  had  an  excellent  road  back  to 
Yokohama,  seventeen  miles.  We  started  at  eight 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  got  back  at  seven  in  the  even- 


o 


O  A    SUNDAY    IN    DAI    NIPPON. 


ing,  took  full  four  hours  for  sight-seeing,  and  traveled 
thirty-seven  or  eight  miles.  How  will  that  do  for  a 
man-team  ? 

The  Tokaido  is  the  great  National  road. 


CHAPTER  III. 

A  SUNDAY  IN  DAI  NIPPON. 

.T  SO  happened  that  the  Sunday  after  our  arrival 
at  Yokohama  was  the  time  of  the  quarterly-meet- 
ing of  the  Methodist  Mission  at  that  place. 

On  Saturday  the  Quarterly  Conference  met  at  Dr. 
Maclay's  residence.  The  members  present  were  Mr. 
Hattori,  Mr.  Makino,  Mr.  Kosugi,  Mr.  Kudo,  and 
Mr.  Kurimura — five  in  all.  There  was  one  absent, 
having  been  called  away  to  Tokio  to  look  after  some 
relatives  who  had  been  burnt  out  in  the  recent  great 
fire  in  that  place.  Conference  was  opened  with 
prayer  in  Japanese,  by  Dr.  Maclay.  Brother  Hattori 
was  elected  Secretary.  The  routine  of  Quarterly 
Conference  business  laid  down  in  the  Discipline  was 
not  followed,  for  the  reason  that  the  organization  of 
the  Church  is  not  yet  so  complete  as  to  require  it. 


A    SUNDAY    IN    DAI    NIPPON.  3 1 

The  first  item  of  business  was  reports  from  the 
native  helpers.  These  helpers  are  exhorters  only, 
none  having  yet  been  licensed  to  preach.  All  the 
members  of  the  Conference  were  exhorters,  except 
Kurimura,  who  was  a  steward.  The  helpers  reported, 
I.  The  number  of  times  they  had  preached  during 
the  quarter;  2.  The  number  of  places  at  which  they 
had  preached ;  3.  The  distances  traveled  by  them  in 
reaching  their  appointments ;  4.  The  number  of  pro- 
bationers at  their  several  stations;  and,  5.  The  num- 
ber of  new  inquirers  since  the  last  Quarterly  Confer- 
ence. One  had  preached  only  in  his  own  neighbor- 
hood once  or  twice  a  Sunday;  but  one  other  had 
preached  ninety  times.  The  people  had  taken  to 
coming  to  him  of  their  own  accord  every  evening, 
and  he  always  delivered  them  a  discourse.  Soni2  of 
them  had  traveled  considerable  ^distances,  always  on 
foot.     Only  the  wealthy  can  travel  in  any  other  way. 

The  reports  for  the  quarter  were  very  encouraging. 
Quite  a  number  of  probationers  were  reported,  and 
several  new  inquirers,  and  the  heart  of  the  mission- 
aries was  full  of  hope. 

One  other  point  was  reported  upon  by  the  helpers 
'  — what  portions  of  the  Scriptures  they  had  studied 
during  the  quarter.  Most  of  them  had  studied  two 
or  three  books  of  the  New  Testament,  usually  one  of 
the  Gospels  and  one  or  two  of  the  Epistles.  But  one 
%  of  them — I  believe  it  was  Kudo,  though  I  have  the 
names  a  little  mixed — had  read  the  New  Testament 
through  twice.  This  brother  had  the  advantage  of 
being  a  very  good  Chinese  scholar  to  begin  with. 

Miscellaneous  business  was  then  taken  up,  and  one 
of    the    brethren    proposed    Brother   Kurimura   for 


32  A   SUNDAY   IN   DAI   NIPPON. 

license  to  exhort.  The  brother  was  called  upon  to 
give  some  account  of  his  experience,  whereupon  he 
rose  to  his  feet  and  made  some  remarks  with  an  air 
of  modesty  and  sincerity  that  pleased  me  much.  The 
substance  of  it,  as  given  me  by  Dr.  Maclay,  was,  that 
he  knew  but  little  of  the  Scriptures  as  yet,  but  what 
he  did  know  had  rilled  him  with  the  desire  to  bring 
others  to  the  same  knowledge.  I  had  met  him 
already  a  day  or  two  before  and  had  some  conversa- 
tion with  him  through  an  interpreter.  This  man 
interested  me  much.  He  is  a  born  gentleman.  The 
Japanese  are  all  polite,  but  there  was  a  mingled  dig- 
nity and  affability  in  this  young  man  that  took  me 
captive.  Then  there  was  such  propriety  and  good 
sense  in  all  he  said,  and  such  delicacy,  both  of  per- 
ception and  feeling,  as  marked  him  a  man  of  high 
order.  He  has  been  in  the  service  of  the  Govern- 
ment, but  resigns  it  that  he  may  serve  in  the  gospel. 
He  reminded  me  of  Alejo  Hernandez,  the  first-fruits 
of  Mexico. 

Then  came  a  question  that  our  home  Churches 
had  been  troubled  with  sometimes — a  question  which 
is  already  a  practical  one  here.  One  of  the  helpers 
reported  an  inquirer  who  had  been  baptized  by  the 
Roman  Catholics.  Is  this  baptism  valid?  Some 
other  matters  of  local  interest  were  talked  over,  and 
the  Conference  was  dismissed  with  the  benediction 
by  the  visiting  brother  from  America. 

The  morning  of  the  Lord's-day  dawned  brightly 
upon  Dai  Nippon,  and  the  love-feast  was  to  begin  at 
half-past  eight.  This  was  half  an  hour  earlier  than 
usual,  and  the  brethren  were  not  on  time.  They  were 
slow.     This  is  one  trouble  our  brethren  have.     The 


A    SUNDAY    IN    DAI    NIPPON.  33 

people  have  not  been  trained  to  punctuality,  and  it 
seems  impossible  to  impress  them  with  the  impor- 
tance of  it.  Besides,  they  have  no  time-pieces,  and 
cannot  therefore  be  very  precise.  But  by  nine  o'clock 
the  little  Church  had  got  together,  a  lesson  out  of  the 
Scriptures  was  read,  a  hymn  wTas  sung,  prayer  was 
offered,  and  the  bread  and  water  distributed. 

Then  came  my  first  address  to  the  native  Church 
— my  first  utterance  in  God's  name  in  the  Eastern 
Hemisphere.  It  was  brief,  practical,  and  from  the 
heart,  and  was  well  rendered  into  Japanese  by  Mr. 
Soper,  of  Tokio.  There  were  four  missionaries  pres- 
ent, new  arrivals  from  the  Evangelical  Association — 
two  men  and  two  women.  Dr.  Maclay  thought  it 
well  to  ask  them  to  speak,  which  they  did  in  excel- 
lent spirit,  what  they  said  being  interpreted  by  the 
older  missionaries.  The  lateness  of  the  hour  made 
it  necessary  to  close  without  giving  the  native  breth- 
ren any  opportunity  to  speak,  which  I  regretted ;  for 
although  I  should  not  have  understood  a  word  of 
what  was  said,  I  should  have  been  able  to  observe 
the  manner  and  spirit  of  it. 

At  eleven  o'clock  I  preached  in  the  Union  Church, 
to  a  rather  small  but  exceptionally  intelligent  con- 
gregation of  English-speaking  people,  with  good  lib- 
erty, and  at  good  length.  Having  but  this  one  oppor- 
tunity for  a  life-time  to  deliver  a  message  from  God 
to  them,  I  could  not  afford  to  bind  myself  down  to 
the  orthodox  thirty-five  or  forty  minutes — and  the 
people  listened  with  exemplary  patience,  at  least, 
and,  indeed,  with  apparent  interest.  I  felt  that 
the  word  was  spoken  not  in  vain.  Was  it  a  weak- 
ness in  me  to  feel  a  profound  sense  of  satisfaction  in 

2*  ' 


34  A  SUNDAY  IX  DAI  NIPPON. 

preaching  the  gospel  on  the  other  side  of  the  world  ? 
How  infinite  has  been  the  goodness  of  God  to  me, 
that  I  should  have  this  mercy ! 

At  three  o'clock  the  native  Church  assembled 
again  for  a  most  interesting  service.  The  approved 
probationers  of  six  months  were  to  be  baptized.  Mr. 
Soper  of  Tokio  preached  an  earnest  sermon,  and 
fluent,  I  thought,  considering  that  it  is  but  three  years 
since  he  commenced  the  study  of  this  very  peculiar 
language.  Then  the  candidates  for  baptism — nine  in 
number,  seven  men  and  two  women — were  called  to 
the  altar.  They  evidently  understood  the  gravity  of 
the  occasion.  They  understood  the  "  vow  of  repent- 
ance, faith,  and  obedience,"  which  they  were  assum- 
ing. For  six  months,  or  more,  they  had  been  care- 
fully taught  the  Christian  doctrine  and  morality,  and 
now,  after  time  for  deliberation,  they  were  publicly 
and  in  this  solemn  manner  giving  themselves  to  God. 
One  of  them  was  a  man  who  had  visited  Europe  in 
one  of  the  Government  Embassies.  The  Methodist 
Church  in  Yokohama  was  organized  less  than  two 
years  ago,  and  now  numbers  twenty-eight,  mostly  of 
an  intelligent  and  influential  class.  It  might  have 
been  larger,  but  that  the  brethren  wisely  hold  appli- 
cants as  probationers  until  they  seem  to  be  well  pre- 
pared to  take  the  vows.  Inquirers  are  appearing  in 
increasing  numbers  all  the  while,  and  the  outlook  is 
inspiring. 

After  the  baptism  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's-sup- 
per  was  administered,  Dr.  Maclay  officiating.  With 
what  joy  I  met  these  men,  so  recently  in  the  darkness 
of  Sintooism  and  Buddhism,  now  kneeling  at  the 
cross  of  Christ !     While  we  broke  the  bread  together, 


A  SUNDAY  IN  DAI  NIPPON.  35 

God  himself  was  present,  and  we  did  eat  of  angels' 
food ;  and  while  we  drank  the  wine  we  had  already  a 
foretaste  of  that  juice  of  the  vine  which  the  Lord 
will  drink  new  with  his  people  in  his  Father's  king- 
dom. 

At  night  Mr.  Hattori  preached  an  expository  ser- 
mon, dwelling  with  special  emphasis  on  the  "  bed 
undefiled" — a  point  that  is  to  be  strongly  guarded  by 
the  infant  Church  here.  The  brother,  in  this  instance, 
told  them  plainly  that  the  defiled  bed  does  not  mean 
unwashed  bedclothes,  but  adultery,  which  is  infinitely 
more  unclean.  This  is  putting  the  matter  strongly 
to  a  native,  for  anything  filthy  about  their  houses  is 
held  to  be  -intolerable.  Even  the  poorest  of  them  are 
scrupulously  given  to  bathing,  and  the  very  floors  of 
their  houses,  where  they  are  not  covered  with  nice, 
clean  mats,  fairly  shine  from  under  the  industrious 
hand  of  the  housekeeper.  Already  the  Japs  have 
this  associate  of  godliness,  according  to  Mr.  Wesley 
— cleanliness. 

Only  one  thing  marred  my  enjoyment  of  the  day. 
Going  down  town  to  the  Union  Church,  I  passed 
through  a  crowded  part  of  the  city,  and  saw  the  toil- 
ing thousands  who  have  no  Sunday.  It  was  a  heart- 
sickening  sight.  I  suppose  that  human  muscle  is 
nowhere  more  severely  taxed  than  in  Japan,  and  it 
has  no  Sunday,  but  the  exacting  toil  goes  on  until 
death  brings  the  final  release.  There  is  an  immense 
amount  of  work  done,  and  human  muscle  does  it 
nearly  all.  In  Tokio  there  are  now  a  few  vehicles 
drawn  by  horses,  but  only  a  very  few.  In  Yokohama 
I  did  not  see  one,  except  a  few  buggies  owned  by 
foreign  residents.    Two  carts  I  saw  drawn  by  a  single 


$6  A  SUNDAY  IN  DAI  NIPPON. 

ox  each;  but  the  clumsy-wheeled  vehicles  loaded 
with  lumber,  earth,  stone — every  thing,  in  short, 
required  in  a  growing  city — and  drawn  by  men,  were 
abundant;  and  they  were  loaded  so  heavy  that  the 
utmost  muscular  strain  was  requisite  to  move  them. 
In  the  country,  with  the  exception  of  the  great 
Tokaido,  the  roads  will  admit  of  no  vehicle  but  the 
narrow  jinrikisha,  so  that  the  produce  of  the  country 
goes  to  market  either  on  the  shoulders  of  men  or  on 
the  backs  of  pack-horses;  and  judging  from  what  I 
saw,  I  should  say  that  by  far  the  greater  part  is  car- 
ried by  men.  A  pole  with  baskets,  boxes  or  packa- 
ges suspended  from  each  end  is  balanced  on  the 
shoulder,  whereupon  the  bearer  trots  off,  it  may  be 
many  miles,  to  his  market  town.  Then  what  he  pur- 
chases is  carried  home  the  same  way.  Happy  is  the 
farmer  who  has  a  pack-horse  to  relieve  him  of  this 
heavy  burden.  A  good  many,  indeed,  have  horses, 
but  multitudes  have  none.  The  soil  is  prepared  for 
planting  by  the  spade,  and  the  cultivated  portions 
are  generally  flat — not  always.  But  for  rice>  if  a 
naturally  flat  surface  is  not  found,  it  is  made  by  ter- 
racing the  slope.  Over  this  water  is  run  from 
ditches,  and  the  rice,  first  sown  in  beds,  is  transplant- 
ed by  the  hand  in  overflowed  ground,  the  laborer 
standing  often  knee-deep  in  mud  and  water.  It  is 
planted  in  bunches,  and  they  in  straight  rows.  The 
ditches  are  kept  all  the  time  in  perfect  repair,  and 
every  square  yard  of  ground  is  cultivated  with  as 
much  care  as  the  best  gardens  at  home.  In  the 
regions  through  which  I  passed  every  available  foot 
was  in  cultivation.  Every  little  strip  and  patch  by 
the  road-side  was  spaded  up  and  planted,  either  in 


A  SUNDAY  IN  DAI  NIPPON.  37 

rice  or  vegetables.  This  incessant  labor  and  burden- 
bearing  has  had  its  effect  on  the  muscles  of  the  men. 
One  of  the  first  things  a  foreigner  notices  is  the  enor- 
mous size  of  the  muscles  in  their  legs,  which  even  now 
in  December  are  often  naked.  And  all  this  toil  is  so 
poorly  remunerated  that  it  must  be  incessantly  kept 
up  only  to  keep  soul  and  body  together.  Happy  is 
the  poor  fellow  who  gets  employment  with  a  for- 
eigner at  five  or  six  dollars  a  month,  and  feeds  him- 
self. Even  the  domestic  servants  feed  themselves. 
They  cook  sumptuous  dinners  for  their  masters,  and 
then  go  and  consume  their  rice  with  their  families, 
and  their  five  dollars  a  month  must  feed  and  clothe 
them  and  their  families.  Rice  is  their  principal  food, 
though  now  they  are  beginning  to  eat  a  little  flesh. 
Heretofore  they  have  abstained  from  animal  food 
under  the  influence  of  Buddhism  partly,  and  partly 
from  poverty.  Now  Buddhism  is  losing  its  hold,  but 
poverty  is  not.  Does  the  future  offer  anything  bet- 
ter? I  shall  have  something  to  say  on  that  subject 
further  on.  But  at  present  the  laboring  classes  are 
ground  down  to  the  earth,  and  they  have  no  Sun- 
day, no  Lord's-da}',  no  hallowed  pause  between 
periods  of  incessant  toil.  Life  is  all  one  unbroken 
period  of  toil.  There  are,  indeed,  many  holidays, 
but  they  do  not  bring  rest  to  the  laborer.  They 
are  gala  days  on  which  those  who  can  afford  it 
go  to  the  temples  and  have  a  good  time ;  but  traffic 
goes  on  all  the  same,  and  I  saw  no  signs  of  intermit- 
ted labor  in  the  city. 

I  had  seen  it  stated  in  the  papers,  before  I  left 
home,  that  the  Japanese  Government  had  adopted 
the  Christian  Sabbath.     It  is  true  that  it  is  made  a 


38  A  SUNDAY  IN  DAI  NIPPON. 

holiday  for  all  who  are  in  Government  employment. 
This  has  come  about  by  the  influence  of  European 
and  American  employes  of  the  Government.  Many 
of  these,  especially  Americans,  refused  to  work  on 
that  day.  But  these  men  are  indispensable  to  the 
Government  in  this  new  epoch,  and  so  this  conces- 
sion was  made  to  them  ;  but  it  has  brought  no  Sab- 
bath to  the  people.  In  fact,  it  makes  more  business 
in  some  lines,  especially  with  shop-keepers.  The 
soldiers  and  other  employes  of  the  Government  who 
have  it  for  a  holiday,  do  their  shopping  on  that  day. 
Indeed,  the  want  of  a  Sabbath  is  one  great  obstacle 
in  the  way  of  the  gospel.  Already  one  of  the  most 
influential  of  the  converts  of  the  Methodist  Mission 
at  Tokio  has  been  expelled  for  persistent  violation 
of  the  Sabbath.  He  pleads  necessity.  The  laborers 
he  employs,  he  says,  will  not  remain  with  him  un- 
less he  will  give  them  employment  every  day.  His 
customers  come  in  to  settle  their  bills  that  day,  and 
will  not  come  another  day.  His  friends,  he  said, 
would  forsake  him  entirely,  and  he  would  be  ruined. 
But  the  missionaries  felt  that  they  must  take  a  firm 
stand  on  this  point,  and  although  this  was  perhaps 
the  most  influential  man  they  had  received  in  all 
Japan,  with  one  exception,  they  have  cut  him  off. 

The  one  exception  I  speak  of  is  a  Mr.  Tsuda, 
who  lives  in  a  suburb  of  Tokio.  He  is  perhaps  the 
most  widely  known  of  any  private  man  in  the  empire. 
He  is  a  scientific  agriculturist,  and  under  the  new 
rigime,  has  charge  of  an  experimental  farm  under  the 
auspicies  of  the  Government.  He  also  publishes  an 
agricultural  journal,  a  monthly,  in  pamphlet-form. 
So  wide-spread  is  his  Correspondence  over  the  whole 


A  SUNDAY  IN  DAI  NIPPON,  39 

Empire  that  he  has  to  employ  a  private  secretary  to 
answer  letters. 

This  man  Tsuda  puts  out  a  sign  at  his  gate  every 
Sunday  morning :  "  No  business  transacted  here 
to-day. " 

He  is  the  only  private  citizen  of  the  Empire  who 
has  ever  received  any  attention  from  the  Mikado. 
His  Majesty  had  him  to  dine  with  him  one  day,  as  a 
mark  of  appreciation  of  the  great  service  he  is  doing 
in  improving  the  agricultural  condition  of  the  coun- 
try. If  he  retains  his  simplicity  of  character  in  the 
midst  of  all  the  honors  he  is  receiving  he  will  no 
doubt  be  a  very  useful  man  in  the  young  Church  in 
Japan. 

Apropos  of  my  Sunday  experiences  in  Yokohama, 
I  may  add  that  the  official  members  whose  names  I 
have  given,  gave  me  many  tokens  of  affection.  The 
last  was  very  unexpected  to  me.  When  I  was  leav- 
ing them  they  were  on  the  Bund,  in  a  body,  to  bid 
me  an  affectionate  farewell.  I  had  time  only  for  a 
few  affectionate  words,  and  then  parted  with  them 
until  the  last  day.  Noble  men  ! — pioneers  of  the 
Church  in  a  new  Empire  which  the  Son  of  God  is 
just  now  invading!     I  shall  never  forget  them. 

I  would  envy  these  missionaries,  if  I  would  allow 
myself  to  envy  anybody.  True,  there  are  many 
crosses,  many  discouragements,  many  trials ;  but 
there  is  no  other  field  so  glorious  as  theirs ;  they  are 
in  the  forefront  of  the  battle,  and  see  the  advancing 
lines  of  occupation  as  the  Lord  of  hosts  moves  on 
in  the  conquest  of  the  world. 

I  have  said  that  the  ground  in  this  country  is  pre- 
pared for  planting  by  the  spade.     It  is  not  to  be  in- 


40  THE  REVOLUTION  OF   I  868. 

ferred  that  there  is  no  plowing.  A  great  deal  of  the 
ground  is  broken  up  by  the  plow,  but  a  great  deal  of 
it,  again,  never  sees  a  plow.  And  even  when  the 
plow  has  done  its  work  the  whole  surface  is  gone 
over  again  with  hoe  and  rake,  so  that  the  amount  of 
labor  is  incalculable.  The  only  plowing  I  have  seen 
is  with  a  single  ox,  hitched  with  ropes,  the  plow  being 
small,  and  having  only  one  handle.  The  fact  is,  as  I 
have  put  it — human  muscle  is  depended  on  for  almost 
every  thing,  and  there  is  neither  labor-saving  con- 
trivance nor  the  relief  of  any  Sabbath.  What  a 
boon,  even  for  this  life,  the  gospel  would  be  to 
Japan ! 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  REVOLUTION  OF   1 868  IN  DIA  NIPPON. 

CCORDING  to  the  Japanese  Mythology,  the 
Mikado,  or  Emperor,  is  descended  from  the 
gods.  The  line  of  descent  has  been  preserved 
with  the  greatest  care,  so  that  to  this  day  the  blood 
is  pure  and  sacred.  The  Emperor,  from  the  begin- 
ning, was  absolute,  ruling  with  God-given  authority. 
Of  course  it  came  about  in  the  run  of  ages  that  weak 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF   I  868.  41 

men  were  born  to  the  scepter,  and  nothing  was  more 
inevitable  than  that  in  such  a  crisis  powerful  minis- 
ters should  come  to  be  the  real  rulers,  and  that  fac- 
tions and  wars  should  arise  between  ambitious  rivals. 
To  give  an  account  of  all  the  strifes  and  changes  of 
the  early  times  would  require  a  volume.  It  is  suffi- 
cient to  my  purpose  to  say  that  in  course  of  time  a 
powerful  military  chieftain  became  ascendant,  and 
established  himself  as  the  recognized  executive  of 
the  empire,  taking  the  title  of  Shogun  (pronounced 
Shong-un).  But  he  ruled  in  the  name  of  the 
Mikado,  who  was  universally  venerated  as  the  sacred 
ruler.  The  Shogun,  however,  acquired  such  a  hold 
of  power  as  to  make  it  hereditary.  This  state  of 
things  commenced,  say,  eight  centuries  ago — not  to 
be  accurate,  for  I  have  not  the  means  at  hand  to 
verify  the  date — and  continued,  with  the  exception 
of  a  short  interval,  until  1868.  But  the  Shogunate 
was  not  in  the  same  family  during  this  entire  period, 
there  having  been  several  revolutions,  changing  it 
from  one  family  of  the  great  nobles  to  another.  Three 
powerful  families  seem  to  have  held  it  from  first  to 
last — the  Taira,  the  Hajo,  and  the  Tokugawa. 
Iyeyasu,  one  of  the  greatest  names  of  Japanese  his- 
tory, of  the  Tokugawa  family,  was  at  the  head  of  the 
last  line.  He  became  Shogun  in  1598,  and  organized 
the  Government  with  consummate  sagacity,  on  a  basis 
that  secured  the  tranquillity  of  the  empire  until  1868, 
a  period  of  nearly  three  hundred  years.  The  study 
of  his  policy  will  well  repay  the  time  of  any  one  who 
takes  pleasure  in  that  sort  of  reading. 

During  the   period  of  the  Shogunate  the    people 
became  divided  into  several  classes — a  division  which 


42  THE  REVOLUTION  OF   I  868. 

began  to  appear  even  earlier.  But  the  principal 
division  was  between  the  military  and  other  classes. 
The  military  class  were  called  samuri,  a  title  that  has 
great  significance  in  the  present  history  of  the  coun- 
try. The  samuri,  or  soldier  class,  was  the  product  of 
the  incessant  wars  of  the  early  periods,  and  in  course 
of  time,  if  not  from  the  beginning,  it  came  to  em- 
brace all  the  official  personages  of  the  nation,  and 
was  hereditary.  The  samuri  blood  was  never  con- 
taminated by  inter-marriage  with  farmers,  laborers, 
mechanics,  or  merchants.  Indeed,  the  merchant,  I 
understand,  was  held  in  greater  contempt  than  any 
other  class. 

The  samuri  were  supported  at  public  cost,  on  this 
wise :  The  whole  of  Japan  was  divided  into  dis- 
tricts, each  one  of  which  belonged  to  a  Daimio — pro- 
nounced Di-me-o.  The  terriotory  of  some  of  the 
Daimios  was  very  large ;  others,  again,  had  but  a 
small  domain.  These  Daimios  were  lords  of  the 
soil,  and  in  the  local  administration  were  absolute, 
collecting  such  rents  as  they  pleased  from  the  land 
and  the  laboring  classes.  The  samuri  residents  in  the 
domain  of  any  Daimio  were  his  'retainers,  bound  to 
respond  to  any  call  for  military  service,  and  depend- 
ent on  him  for  subsistence.  Sometimes  the  Daimios 
were  at  war  with  each  other,  and  sometimes  they 
were  called  upon  by  the  Shogun  to  join  him  in  his 
military  enterprises.  These  enterprises  generally  had 
to  do  with  rebellion  in  some  part  of  the  empire. 
Very  rarely  there  was  a  little  foreign  embroilment 
with  Formosa  or  Corea,  or  the  conquest  of  some 
small  group  of  islands. 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  was  all  much  the  same  as 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF  I  868.  43 

the  feudal  system  of  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
The  lord  and  his  vassals  were  in  nearly  the  same  re- 
lations to  each  other,  and  the  common  people  were 
taken  no  account  of  only  as  they  could  be  taxed. 

The  samuri  always  wore  his  sword  at  his  belt,  and 
was  quick  to  take  and  to  avenge  an  indignity.  Much 
blood  was  shed  among  themselves,  and  as  for  the 
cringing  laborer  or  farmer,  he  knew  it  was  as  much  as 
his  life  was  worth  to  offer  any  show  of  self-defense 
against  the  domineering  demands  of  his  armed  and 
knightly  oppressor.  Accustomed  to  it  from  infancy, 
he  no  doubt  believed  himself  to  belong  to  an  inferior 
race,  and  accepted  it  as  a  part  of  the  constitution  of 
things. 

But  there  was  not  always  war,  and  especially  from 
the  times  of  the  great  Iyeyasu  to  the  present,  peace 
had  been  the  rule.  The  samuri  were  then  an  idle  class, 
nor  could  the  "  standing  army  "  be  reduced  to  a  peace 
footing,  for  all  the  sons  of  samuri  were  samuri,  and 
their  daughters  were  of  the  same  class.  Their  sub- 
sistence was  sure,  but  often  rather  scant.  But  they 
could  resort  to  no  ordinary  avocation  to  ingrease 
their  wealth.  Many  just  lived  in  idleness,  while  many 
others  devoted  themselves  to  literature,  and  some  be- 
came teachers.  In  this  way  a  native  literature  has 
been  maintained,  and,  as  a  class,  the  samuri  are  to  a 
considerable  degree  cultivated,  both  in  native  and 
Chinese  learning.  It  is  not  in  any  proper  sense  of 
the  word,  however,  a  scientific,  but  only  a  literary , 
culture.  Many  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  elu- 
cidation of  their  own  history  and  mythology,  and 
there  is,  I  believe,  a  considerable  extent  of  literature 
in  the  line  of  romance. 


44  THE  REVOLUTION  OF  1 868. 

The  policy  of  the  Shoguns  was  to  keep  the  Mikado 
as  an  inaccessible  sacred  object,  in  whose  name  they 
could  govern  the  people.  He  lived  in  voluptuous 
idleness,  with  every  opportunity  of  sensual  indul- 
gence. With  no  responsibilities  to  arouse  a  manly 
nature,  and  a  precedent  of  ages  to  justify  his  indul- 
gences, he  was  a  mere  sensualist,  enfeebled  by  ex- 
cesses, imagining  himself  a  god  superior  to  the  vul- 
gar cares  of  life,  and  made  of  better  stuff  than  other 
men.  He  was  never  seen  but  by  the  personal  ser- 
vants of  the  palace  and  the  higher  nobles,  and  by 
these  last  only  at  a  distance,  seated  immovable  in 
gorgeous  robes,  hung  round  by  magnificent  tapestry 
and  canopied  with  gold.  To  the  ear  of  the  common 
people  there  came  only  rumors  of  the  divine  splen- 
dor of  the  son  of  the  gods. 

But  during:  all  this  time  it  seems  that  there  existed 
a  latent  feeling  in  many  of  the  Mikadoes  that  they 
ought  to  reign  in  fact  as  they  did  in  name,  and  that 
amongst  the  samuri  there  was  always  a  greater  or 
less  degree  of  restiveness  under  the  power  of  a  man 
who  was  only  one  of  their  own  class.  In  the  long 
reign  of  peace,  as  literature  was  more  and  more  cul- 
tivated, a  knowledge  of  the  earlier  history  of  the 
country  became  diffused,  and  the  feeling  became 
wide-spread  that  the  Shogun  was  a  usurper.  The  de- 
sire to  restore  the  Mikado  to  his  rightful  place  as  the 
actual  Emperor — for  he  was  always  the  nominal  one 
— grew  to  be  general  and  deep. 

It  so  fell  out  that  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  of  America  furnished  the  occasion  of  bring- 
ing on  a  crisis.  The  Shogun  had  for  two  hundred 
years  kept  Japan  secluded  from  any  intercourse  with 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF  1 868.  45 

foreign  nations.  I  believe  there  is  a  wide-spread  be- 
lief that  this  had  always  been  the  case.  Not  so. 
Up  to  the  beginning  of  seventeenth  century  they  had 
shown  no  disposition  of  jealousy  toward  foreigners. 
That  jealousy  was  brought  about  by  the  Jesuits.  In 
1542  this  enterprising  Order  entered  the  country  from 
Portugal — at  least  the  greater  number  were  from 
Portugal — the  very  first  was  Loyola  himself.  These 
missionaries  met  with  marvelous  success.  They 
made  converts  by  the  thousand.  They  built  churches, 
cathedrals,  and  monasteries.  Several  great  Daimios 
being  proselyted,  compelled  the  people  of  their 
Daimiates  to  embrace  the  new  religion  on  pain  of 
banishment.  The  good  fathers  chuckled  over  this 
wholesale  and  bloody-handed  dispensation  of  grace, 
and  in  the  course  of  seventy  years  they  boasted  a  na- 
tive Church  of  between  two  and  three  hundred  thou- 
sand members,  if  my  memory  is  correct.  They  be- 
came proud  and  insolent,  and  began  to  feel  that  the 
country  belonged  to  them.  They  undertook  to  med- 
dle with  public  affairs.  The  Government  took  the 
alarm,  but  found  that  it  could  secure  itself  against 
their  open  or  secret  influence  only  by  their  expulsion. 
The  policy  of  extermination  was  resolved  upon. 
The  priests  were  sent  out  of  the  country,  thus  hav- 
ing to  take  their  own  medicine.  The  native  Chris- 
tians were  compelled  to  recant.  Thousands  were 
put  to  death.  It  was  one  of  the  bloodiest  and  most 
effectual  persecutions  in  the  history  of  the  world.  It 
was  supposed  that  the  Christian  name  had  been  oblit- 
erated, but  it  has  recently  come  to  light  that,  after  . 
two  hundred  years,  there  were  still  several  thousand 
who  secretly  held  the  faith  of  the  missionaries. 


/ 


46  THE  REVOLUTION  OF  1 868. 

After  this  bitter  experience  with  C/iristians,  the 
Government  became  convinced  that  it  could  have 
nothing  to  do  with  Christian  people  with  any  safety. 
This  originated  the  insular  policy  that  prevailed  for 
more  than  two  hundred  years.  But  when  the 
western  coast  of  America  became  settled,  and  our 
commerce  with  the  "East  by  the  way  of  the  West  " 
became  an  established  fact,  we  found  ourselves  face 
to  face  with  Japan.  The  advantages  of  an  unre- 
stricted commerce  with  this  rich  insular  region  were 
too  great  to  be  overlooked.  The  Dutch  had  been 
allowed  a  little  trading-post  ever  since  the  expulsion 
of  the  Jesuits.  It  was  known  that  many  curious 
articles  were  manufactured  here,  and  that  the  possi- 
bilities of  the  tea  and  silk  products  of  the  country 
were  very  great. 

Accordingly,  Commodore  Perry,  of  the  U.  S. 
Navy,  was  directed  to  open  communications  with  the 
Government  of  Japan,  with  a  view  to  a  treaty  of  com- 
merce. Accordingly,  in  1853,  he  steamed  into  the 
Bay  of  Yeddo,  and  opened  negotiations  with  the 
Shogun,  whose  capital  was  at  Yeddo,  the  Mikado's 
capital  being  at  Kioto,  two  hundred  miles  away.  In 
these  negotiations  the  Shogun  styled  himself  Ti-Kun, 
which  foreigners  wrote  Tycoon,  so  that  he  became 
known  to  Europe  and  America  by  that  pretentious 
title,  Ti-Kun — the  Great  Ruler.  The  assumption 
of  so  grand  a  title  by  the  Shogun,  the  affectation  of 
imperial  dignities,  in  addition  to  the  usurpation  of 
imperial  powers,  filled  up  the  measure  of  the  national 
discontent.  The  history  is  long  and  somewhat  intri- 
cate. I  cannot  follow  it.  It  is  sufficient  for  my  pur- 
pose to  say  that  it  all  culminated  in  the  revolution  of 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF   I  868.  4/ 

1868,  in  which,  after  considerable  fighting,  the  Sho- 
gun  was  defeated  in  a  final  and  decisive  battle  at 
Yeddo,  in  which  the  Shogunate  perished  forever. 

The  Mikado  who  had  recently  succeeded  to  the 
empire  was  a  youth  of  only  seventeen,  isolated  from 
his  infancy  from  all  affairs,  and  so  both  immature  and 
inexperienced.  But  he  was  taken  possession  of  by 
the  men  who  had  made  the  revolution,  and  he  had 
either  the  good  sense  or  the  weakness  to  give  him- 
self up  to  their  direction.  They  are  remarkable 
men — this  is  universally  conceded.  By  their  advice 
he  removed  his  residence  from  Kioto,  the  nominal,  to 
Yeddo,  the  actual  capital,  at  the  same  time  changing 
the  name  of  Yeddo  to  Tokio,  which  means  the  East- 
ern Capital. 

But  now  the  revolution  was  but  just  begun.  All 
great  revolutions  are  marked  by  significant  coinci- 
dents. The  concurrent  advent  of  Perry,  with  the 
growing  opposition  to  the  Shogun,  involved  a  great 
deal,  only  a  little  of  which  I  can  give  in  this  chapter. 

To  begin  with :  The  restoration  of  the  Mikado 
was  coeval  with  the  new  problems  that  arose  in  the 
Japanese  Government  as  incidental  to  its  new  foreign 
relatione.  The  treaty  of  the  United  States  must  of 
necessity  be  followed  by  treaties  with  the  various 
States  of  Europe.  This  involved  the  residence  of 
Ministers  and  Consuls  at  the  capital  and  the  ports. 
It  involved  Embassies  from  Japan  to  the  various 
courts  of  Europe  and  America.  It  involved,  also, 
the  opening  of  an  active  commerce;  and  all  this 
involved  the  influx  of  new  ideas.  Indeed,  the  com- 
ing and  going  of  steamships  alone  gave  the  more 
thoughtful  Japanese  a  suggestion' of  forms   of  civili- 


48  THE  REVOLUTION  OF   I  868. 

zation  that  were,  at  least  in  some  respects,  vasty 
superior  to  their  own,  and  so  already,  before  the 
revolution  came,  some  of  the  more  sagacious  Daimios 
had  sent  young  men  from  their  provinces  to  America 
to  be  educated,  some  of  whom  returned  about  the 
time  of  that  event,  all  full  of  the  wonders  of  the  for- 
eign civilization. 

Then  came  the  necessity  of  organizing  the  Gov- 
ernment on  a  footing  that  would  enable  it  to  deal 
with  other  Governments.  It  must  have  an  army  and  a 
navy,  and  it  must  have  revenues  adequate  to  all  this. 
It  must  be  able  to  concentrate  its  forces.  It  must 
have  statesmen  versed  in  international  law.  It  must 
have  every  thing,  in  short,  that  constitutes  a  civilized 
Government. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  introduce  all  these 
changes  without  having,  sooner  or  later,  a  stable 
code  of  laws  to  take  the  place  of  mere  personal  gov- 
ernment, ruling  the  people  by  proclamations  posted 
in  public  places. 

All  this  would  involve  the  most  radical  changes, 
and  the  men  who  guided  the  revolution  saw  at  once 
how  inevitable  and  how  difficult  their  task  was. 

In  the  first  place,  the  feudal  system  must  be  broken 
up.  But  this  system  involved  the  very  organization 
of  society.  It  would  break  up  the  samuri  class,  the 
proudest  and  most  formidable  class  of  people  in  the 
empire.  The  traditions  of  ages  would  be  suddenly 
and  violently  broken  in  upon.  But  the  matter  was 
entered  upon  firmly.  Many  of  the  Daimios,  seeing 
the  necessity  of  the  case,  were  forward  to  surrender 
their  great  dignities  and  privileges,  and  all  of  them 
acquiesced  with  a  good  grace.     Perhaps  it  was  the 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF   1 868.  49 

grandest  instance  in  history  of  a  privileged  class 
giving  up  its  position  for  the  welfare  of  the  country. 
The  plan  was  that  every  Daimio  should  surrender  his 
territories  and  revenues  to  the  Government,  receive 
a  pension,  and  make  his  residence  at  Tokio,  the 
capital.  This  was  all  done  at  once ;  I  believe  it  was 
in  1 87 1.  These  great  nobles  all  simultaneously  took 
leave  of  their  retainers,  and  repaired  with  their  fam- 
ilies to  the  capital,  many  of  them  voluntarily,  and 
some,  perhaps,  because  they  were  powerless  to  resist 
the  movement  of  the  majority. 

Then  there  must  be  an  army  created.  The  French 
model  was  determined  upon,  and  French  officers  were 
imported  to  organize  and  drill  it.  A  navy  must  be 
created,  and  who  but  the  English  could  do  that?  So 
Englishmen  were  imported  to  do  it.  Railroads  must 
be  built,  and  the  English  were  brought  in  to  do  that. 

No  less  important  was  it  to  improve  the  education 
of  the  people,  and  especially  in  the  exact  and  prac- 
tical sciences,  and  Americans,  chiefly,  were  called  on 
for  that.  American  text-books  were  translated,  an 
American  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Bureau  of 
Education,  and  on  his  suggestion  a  system  of  public 
schools  was  created,  embracing  the  whole  empire, 
and  culminating  in  a  university  at  Tokio,  in  which 
four  of  the  leading  Professors  are  Americans,  and  the 
instructions  are  carried  on  in  the  English  language, 
the  students  having  first  to  pass  through  an  English 
school  to  prepare  them  for  its  classes. 

Now  the  whole  empire  is  consolidated;  all  its  reve- 
nues are  administered  by  the  central  Government, 
which  appoints  the  governors  of  provinces,  and  pro- 
vides for  the  internal  police  in  every  part.    A  written 


50  THE  REVOLUTION  OF  1 868. 

code  of  laws — the  "  Code  Napoleon,"  so  far  as  it  is 
applicable — has  been  adopted,  the  army  and  navy 
organized,  and  a  nascent  system  of  education  set  on 
foot.  Besides  that,  the  Gregorian  calendar  has  been 
adopted,  only  the  era  dates  from  the  restoration  of 
the  Mikado,  so  that  this  is  the  year  8  instead  of 
1876.  But  the  year  begins,  as  with  us,  and  has  the 
same  division  of  months  and  even  of  weeks,  for  they 
have  taken  Sunday  as  a  day  of  rest  for  all  Govern- 
ment employes,  though  it  is  considered  only  in  the 
light  of  a  holiday,  and  is  not  in  vogue  among  the 
people  at  large. 

Now,  is  not  this  a  wonderful  revolution  to  have 
been  effected  in  eight  years  ? 

Is  it  permanent?  What  may  be  hoped  for  in  the 
future?     I  confess  I  do  not  know. 

It  would  be  folly  to  deny  that  there  are  grave  oc- 
casions of  alarm,  and  it  is  scarcely  possible  that  dis- 
content, and  even  open  rebellion,  should  be  wanting. 
Indeed  there  is  grave  discontent  already.  The  tax- 
payers are  ground  down  by  a  more  oppressive  levy 
than  the  rents  they  paid  to  the  old  Daimios.  The 
Daimios  measured  only  the  land  in  actual  cultivation, 
but  the  present  Government  measures  the  ditches 
and  terrace-work,  adding  a  good  deal  to  the  area. 
The  tax,  I  was  told,  is  five  dollars  an  acre  for  rice- 
lands,  and  half  that  amount  for  all  other.  But  it 
must  have  money  to  pay  the  pensions  of  the  Daimios, 
and  to  buy  ships  for  the  navy,  and  to  organize  it  and 
the  army,  and  to  pay  high  salaries  to  its  foreign 
officers  and  teachers.  These  foreign  employes  are 
first-rate  men,  who  would  have  high  salaries  at  home, 
and  who  demand  higher  here,  because  they  look  upon 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF   1 868.  5  I 

this  employment  as  temporary  and  of  uncertain  dura- 
tion. The  Professors  in  the  university  have  four 
thousand  dollars,  and  teachers  in  lower  schools  from 
fifteen  hundred  to  two  thousand.  I  do  not  know 
what  the  officers  in  the  army  and  navy  are  paid ;  but 
the  American  Minister  of  Education  receives  ten 
thousand  dollars. 

But  many  of  these  expenses  are  extraordinary, 
and  they  hope  to  be  able  to  reduce  the  revenue  in  a 
short  time. 

It  is  proposed  also  to  compound  with  the  Daimios 
for  their  pensions,  paying  them  a  given  amount  once 
for  all  and  have  done  with  it.  Thus  a  heavy  expense 
will  be  got  rid  of.  But  the  Government  is  building 
railroads,  which  it  owns  and  runs.  This,  it  is 
believed,  will  be  a  source  of  revenue.  It  is  putting 
up  lines  of  telegraph  throughout  the  empire.  It  has 
also  bought  a  line  of  steamships  from  Yokohama  to 
Shanghai.  All  this  adds  to  its  burdens  just  now,  but 
it  is  hoped  it  will  lighten  them  after  a  while.  It  has 
also  organized  and  is  carrying  an  extensive  postal 
service. 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  this  Government-ownership 
of  a  merchant-marine,  railroads,  and  telegraph  lines, 
may  open  the  way  to  peculation — though  I  have 
heard  of  no  rings  as  yet.  The  main  trouble,  so  far, 
is,  that  coming  all  at  once,  it  costs  immense  sums  of 
money  to  get  it  on  foot,  and  so  involves  oppressive 
taxation  and  discontent  with  the  new  order  of  things 
among  the  people. 

Then  there  is  much  discontent  among  the  samuri, 
and  they  are  a  class  not  to  be  despised.  "  Othello's 
occupation  is  gone,"  and  the  samuri,  heretofore  fed 


52  THE  REVOLUTION  OF   I  868. 

from  the  public  crib,  and  trained  to  no  occupation, 
are  really  in  a  bad  case.  To  be  sure,  the  new  army 
is  made  up  of  them,  as  well  as  the  very  large  police 
force  in  the  cities,  teachers  in  the  public  schools,  and 
Government  employes  generally.  The  Government 
does  all  it  can  to  find  them  employment.  But  still  there 
remains  a  large  number  of  them  unemployed,  and 
angry  with  the  new  order  of  things  that  has  dealt  so 
hardly  with  them.  They  are  ready  for  stratagems. 
Already  two  efforts  at  rebellion  have  occurred,  one 
very  recently.  The  first  was  somewhat  formidable, 
and  the  last  was  widely  organized  and  well-con- 
ceived, but  was  discovered,  by  accident  only,  just  in 
time  to  prevent  a  sanguinary,  and  perhaps  disastrous, 
conflict.  y 

Besides  all  this,  the  Government  is  not  settled 
upon  any  constitutional  basis.  If  the  Mikado  should 
become  dissatisfied  with  his  Ministers,  and  appoint 
less  capable  men,  or  if  he  should  die,  and  his  suc- 
cessor fall  under  the  influence  of  men  inimical  to  the 
new  order,  and  surround  himself  with  a  reactionary 
ministry,  all  of  which  may  happen,  no  one  can  tell 
what  the  effect  may  be.  But  so  long  as  the  present 
Emperor  lives,  it  is  believed  the  present  order  will 
be  maintained.  He  has  changed  all  his  habits,  has 
adopted  the  European  costume — a  wonderful  thing — - 
appears  in  public,  a  still  more  wonderful  thing,  and 
either  has  very  good  sense,  or  is  under  the  influence 
of  men  who  have,  and  the  friends  of  Japan  are  full 
of  hope.  The  Mikado  is  young  and  in  good  health, 
and  if  God  should  give  him  health  and  long  life,  by 
the  time  his  end  comes  the  Government  may  be  so 
consolidated  as  to  be  tolerably  safe,  and  a  new  gen- 


THE    REVOLUTION    OF    1 868.  53 

eration,  educated  and  prepared  for  it,  may  constitute 
a  background  of  popular  influence  that  will  secure 
good  government  for  the  generations  to  come. 

The  Mikado  took  an  oath  when  he  came  into 
power  to  introduce  a  representative  system  of  gov- 
ernment. He  has  been  reminded  of  this  since,  and 
seems  altogether  disposed  to  keep  his  pledge.  But 
his  counselors  are  of  opinion  that  the  country  is  not 
yet  ready  for  the  elective  franchise,  and  intelligent 
foreigners,  long  resident  in  the  country,  are  all 
of  the  same  opinion.  The  masses  of  the  people 
are  scarcely  better  prepared  for  the  ballot  than 
the  so  recently  liberated  slaves  of  America.  But 
the  grand  outlay  of  money  and  effort  in  the 
education  of  the  people  looks  to  a  preparation 
of  them  for  a  popular  form  of  government.  It  is 
hoped  that  Japanese  already  born,  and  perhaps  even 
now  in  early  manhood,  may  yet  be  in  the  Upper  and 
Lower  Houses,  under  a  limited,  constitutional  mon- 
archy. If  things  go  on  as  they  have  begun  this  may 
well  be. 

There  is  one  ground  of  apprehension  as  to  the 
near  future  that  I  omitted  to  mention.  Some  of  the 
Mikado's  advisers,  perhaps  the  majority  of  them,  are 
looked  upon  by  the  powerful  families  who  have  been 
so  long  at  the  head  of  affairs  as  patvenues.  They 
are  new  men  and  of  obscure  families.  These  old 
clansmen  can  scarcely  bear  to  be  put  aside  by  the 
intruders.  Nor  is  their  influence  to  be  despised. 
Perhaps  it  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  late  rebellion. 

But,  in  any  event,  much  that  has  been  done  must 
stand.  It  is  impossible  for  the  old  feudal  system  to  be 
restored.     The  spirit   of  progress   is   abroad.     The 


54         FROM  YOKOHAMA  TO  NAGASAKI. 

new  ideas  have  taken  root.  Seed-thoughts  have 
been  scattered  broadcast,  and  cannot  die.  They 
must  germinate.  Public  schools  are  taught  in 
deserted  pagan  temples.  This  I  have  seen  with  my 
own  eyes.  The  same  is  true  of  at  least  one  Mission- 
school.  America  and  Europe  are  in  vital  communi- 
cation with  the  country.  The  civilization  of  the 
nineteenth  century  is  entering  at  a  thousand  doors 
and  there  can  be  no  permanent  retrogression. 
Rebellion  there  may  be,  with  bloodshed  and  violent 
displacement  of  men,  but  the  new  movement  is  a 
tidal-wave  that  will  bear  all  before  it.  There  may 
be  breakwaters  to  check  it  for  a  moment,  but  in  the 
end  it  will  overwhelm  all  that  shall  get  in  its  way. 
It  is  the  product  of  irrepressible  creative  forces,  and 
the  issue  must  be  a  new  Dai  Nippon. 


CHAPTER  V. 


FROM  YOKOHAMA  TO  NAGASAKI. 

EAVIXG   Yokohama   on   Wednesday,   Dec.  6, 
,  we  steamed  down  the  east  coast  to  the  Bay  of 
\  Osaka,     and     on    Friday     morning    awoke    at 
Kobe,  having  run  a   distance   of  two  hundred  and  - 


I 


FROM  YOKOHAMA  TO  NAGASAKI.  55 

forty-six  miles,  and  succeeded  in  getting  ashore  in 
time  to  take  the  early  train  for  Osaka.  Here  we  took 
the  ever-present  jinrikisha,  showed  our  team  a  paper 
with  written  directions  to  the  residence  of  Dr.  Gor- 
don, and  the  very  sprightly  trotters  delivered  us 
promptly  at  the  right  gate.  Dr.  Gordon  is  of  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  but  is  here  under 
the.  auspices  of  the  American  Board.  This  Board  is 
doing,  indeed,  the  greater  part  of  the  work  in  this 
region.  We  had  the  good  fortune  to  find,  also,  Dr. 
Adams,  who  is  the  medical  missionary  here.  After 
a  long  and  very  satisfactory  conversation  with  these 
gentlemen,  we  had  tiffin  with  our  host,  who  then 
accompanied  us  on  a  sight-seeing  expedition  through 
the  city.  The  first  place  we  visited  was  the  castle, 
which  is  indeed  the  place  of  principal  interest  here. 
There  is  an  outer  and  an  inner  wall,  and  then  the 
citadel  in  the  center.  The  outer  wall  surrounds  a 
mound  of  considerable  elevation,  and  is  itself  sur- 
rounded by  a  very  deep  and  wide  moat.  The  moat 
is  walled  with  stone  on  both  sides,  the  walls  rest- 
ing against  the  earth,  and  the  inner  one  rising 
many  feet  above  the  outer.  The  second  line  of 
defense,  within  this,  and  higher  up  the  mound, 
consists  also  of  a  moat — which  is  now  dry,  however 
— and  walls  as  already  described.  Then  comes  the 
citadel,  crowning  the  summit  of  the  mound.  The 
works  are  all  extremely  massive,  the  stone  being 
granite,  and  the  walls  very  thick.  I  should  say  that 
with  only  the  weapons  of  attack  in  vogue  here  three 
centuries  ago,  when  it  was  built,  these  works  were 
absolutely  impregnable. 

But  the  most  remarkable   thine  about  them  is  the 


$6  FROM  YOKOHAMA  TO  NAGASAKI. 

size  of  many  of  the  stones  used  in  the  walls.  The 
length  of  one  of  these  enormous  blocks,  as  measured 
by  a  tape-line,  was  thirty-nine  feet  and  more — near 
forty,  in  fact.  We  could  not  measure  the  elevation, 
as  we  had  no  means  of  getting  up  the  wall ;  but  it 
could  not  have  been  less  than  fifteen  feet ;  nor 
could  we  tell  the  thickness  of  it,  as  the  wall 
stood  against  the  earth  on  the  other  side ;  but 
at  the  end  of  the  wall  we  saw  stones  eight  feet 
thick,  and  this  was  probably  not  less.  Another 
one  of  these  huge  pieces  of  granite  was  thirty-one 
feet  long,  and  we  judged  it  to  be  not  less  than 
twenty,  perhaps  twenty-five  feet  high.  It  constituted 
the  whole  elevation  of  the  wall  at  the  place,  and  was 
probably  sunk,  by  its  great  weight,  several  feet  into 
the  ground.  These  stones  are  dressed  true  on  the 
faces,  but  the  edges  to  which  other  stones  are  fitted  in 
building  the  walls  are  of  the  most  irregular  contour, 
as  no  stone  was  wasted  in  trimming;  yet  the  joints 
are  made  to  fit  closely,  so  that  after  the  lapse  of  near 
three  centuries  the  structure  is  about  as  solid  as  at 
first. 

The  old  question  of  Egyptian  and  Chaldean 
masonry  must  be  repeated  here.  How  were  these 
great  stones  brought  from  the  distant  quarry,  and  by 
what  contrivance  raised  to  their  places  in  this  wall? 
The  quarry  is  two  hundred  miles  distant.  It  is  said 
that  they  were  brought  by  water,  but  the  natives 
have  now  no  vessel  that  one  of  them  would  not 
sink.  It  is  suggested  that  several  junks  were  lashed 
together;  but,  even  then,  how  were  they  loaded? 
The  mass  is  probably  equal  to  Cleopatra's  Needle; 
and  the  great  English  Government,  commanding  the 


FROM  YOKOHAMA  TO  NAGASAKI.  57 

greatest  amount  of  engineering  genius  now  to  be 
found  in  the  world,  and  the  most  massive  ships  that 
have  ever  been  afloat,  found  the  removal  of  Cleo- 
patra's Needle  a  difficult  operation. 

The  citadel  commands  the  whole  city,  and  we 
should  have  had  a  magnificent  view  if  it  had  not 
been  cloudy  and  raining.  But  we  could  not  stop  for 
the  rain,  so  we  mounted  our  jinrikishas,  and  whirled 
off  to  the  Normal  School.  The  buildings  are  very 
neat,  the  situation  commanding,  and  the  grounds 
beautiful.  It  is  another  one  of  the  many  wonderful 
fruits  of  the  revolution.  I  doubt  if  any  nation  has 
ever  done  so  much  in  so  short  a  time.  But  we 
could  not  go  in,  for  want  of  time.  Off  we  trotted  to 
one  of  the  two  principal  temples  of  the  place,  in 
connection  with  which  is  the  Osaca  Hospital.  Into 
this  hospital  Dr.  Gordon  proposed  to  take  us,  that 
we  might  see  the  queer  structure  of  the  flimsy  and 
rambling  edifice.  I  could  see  no  plan  at  all  in  it, 
and  I  gave  the  Doctor  great  credit  for  topographical 
sagacity  in  going  through  it,  right,  left,  advance, 
retreat,  in,  out,  up,  up,  and  then  returning  by  the 
same  tortuous  way.  He  made  but  one  mistake. 
Opening  a  sliding  door,  we  came  upon  a  part  of  the 
temple  where  a  Buddhist  priest  was  preaching  to  a 
congregation  of  about  two  hundred  people.  We 
stood  a  few  minutes  listening,  and  I  observed  that 
occasionally  the  congregation  responded.  At  one 
point  we  came  out  on  to  a  veranda  at  the  rear  of  the 
building,  and  found  an  open  space  of  irregular  area, 
not  more  than  forty  feet  in  diameter  at  the  widest 
point,  but  which  displayed  a  fine  instance  of  the 
genius    for     landscape     gardening,    for    which    the 


58         FROM  YOKOHAMA  TO  NAGASAKI. 

Japanese  are  famous.  There  was  an  arrangement  cf 
walks,  mound,  shrubbery,  and  a  little  bit  of  running 
water,  that  was  exquisite ;  and,  in  contrast  with  the 
dingy  back-buildings  surrounding  it,  the  effect  was 
delightful. 

The  hospital  itself  affords  a  good  instance  of  the 
cleanliness  everywhere  seen  in  the  houses  of  these 
people.  We  saw  one  of  the  wards  in  which  there 
was  but  one  patient,  with  three  nurses  to  look  after 
him.  I  believe,  however,  that  they  had  several 
wards  in  charge,  and  only  happened  at  the  moment 
to  be  together  in  this  room.  The  Doctor  spoke 
highly  of  the  general  management  of  the  institution, 
which  he  had  visited  a  good  many  times. 

After  that  we  visited  the  Dispensatory  of  Dr. 
Adams,  the  very  cultivated  missionary-physician  of 
the  American  Board,  where  treatment  and  medicines 
are  provided  for  the  indigent  natives.  Here  a  sup- 
ply of  Christian  literature  is  kept  on  hand  for  distri- 
bution, and  a  room  is  fitted  up  for  a  reading-room 
and  chapel,  where  there  is  preaching  at  stated  times. 
This  establishment  pleased  us  much. 

Having  seen  and  heard  what  we  could  command 
time  for  at  Osaka,  we  took  the  four-o'clock  train  for 
Kobe,  to  meet  an  engagement  we  had  made  in  the 
morning  to  dine  with  Dr.  Berry,  at  half-past  five. 
The  Doctor,  like  Dr.  Adams,  is  a  layman  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  American  Board,  and  is  in  charge  of  a 
Dispensatory  at  Kobe,  as  the  former  is  at  Osaka. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  is  a  scholarly 
and  influential  man,  and  has  contributed  to  the 
advancement  of  civilization  here  in  several  respects 
— notably  in  being  authorized  to  inspect  the  prisons, 


FROM  YOKOHAMA  TO  NAGASAKI.  59 

with  a  view  to  improve  their  condition,  both  in  a 
sanitary  and  moral  point  of  view.  He  made  an 
elaborate  report  to  the  Government,  which  was  so 
highly  regarded  that  it  was  published  as  an  official 
document,  and  with  that  prestige,  circulated  through- 
out the  Empire. 

We  were  pained  to  find  the  Doctor  and  his  wife  in 
deep  affliction,  looking  hourly  for  the  death  of  an 
only  surviving  child.  He  is  also  under  personal 
affliction  of  a  painful  character,  being  theatened  with 
the  loss  of  his  eyes.  He  can  bear  only  a  very  sub- 
dued light,  and  fears  that  he  may  even  have  to  give 
up  his  work  and  return  to  America.  Dr.  Gordon  is 
suffering  a  good  deal  in  the  same  way.  Dr.  Berry 
does  not  attribute  this  to  the  climate  in  either  case, 
but  to  nervous  exhaustion  from  over-work ;  yet  it  is 
true,  and  is  notorious,  that  blindness  is  much  more 
common  here  than  in  America. 

At  Dr.  Berry's  house  we  met  with  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Atkinson,  who  is  in  charge  of  the  Mission  proper  at 
this  place.  He  invited  us  to  attend  the  prayer-meet- 
ing at  the  Mission-school.  This  school  is  in  charge 
of  ladies  sent  out  by  the  Board.  It  was  night;  but, 
so  far  as  we  could  see,  the  building  is  spacious  and 
well-arranged.  Two  rooms  were  thrown  into  one  by 
means  of  sliding  doors.  The  attendance  was  larger 
than  I  expected  to  see,  both  of  men  and  women. 
Mr.  Atkinson  opened  the  meeting  with  singing, 
prayer,  and  reading  a  chapter  from  the  Gospels,  upon 
which  he  commented.  The  meeting  was  then  left  to 
take  care  of  itself,  which  it  did  very  well.  One  of 
the  lady-teachers  made  a  short  talk,  after  which  there 
was  a  pause — not  long — then  a  native  convert  pro- 


60  FROM   YOKOHAMA  TO  NAGASAKI. 

posed  prayer,  which  he  led,  all  kneeling.  At  the 
close  of  his  prayer  all  remained  kneeling,  and,  after 
a  brief  pause,  another  native  prayed,  and  so  on,  until 
five  prayers  were  offered  before  we  arose.  Then  a 
paper  was  handed  in  by  a  man,  a  little  talk  was 
indulged  in,  and  a  vote  taken  by  lifting  the  hand. 
Then  a  little  more  talk,  then  a  hymn,  and  the  meet- 
ing was  at  an  end.  The  paper  handed  in  was  a 
request  of  two  members  to  be  transferred  to  another 
Church  more  convenient  to  them,  and  the  vote 
granted  the  request.  I  ought  to  explain  that  there 
are  three  or  four  Churches  already  organized  in 
Kobe.  The  talk  that  followed  the  vote  was  occa- 
sioned by  a  statement  of  one  of  the  native  helpers 
that  he  had  met  with  strong  and  determined  opposi- 
tion in  a  neighborhood  in  the  mountains  where  he 
and  another  had  been  endeavoring  to  establish 
preaching.  The  result  of  the  conference  on  the  mat- 
ter was  the  determination  to  press  the  effort  to  a 
successful  issue. 

The  whole  spirit  of  this  meeting  was  delightful,  so 
much  so,  that  though  I  could  not  understand  a  word 
that  was  said,  I  felt  the  effect  of  manner  and  tone,  and 
that  subtle  something  which  you  can  neither  account 
for  nor  misunderstand,  the  sense  of  a  presence  that 
is  divine. 

It  was  now  near  nine  o'clock,  and  at  midnight  our 
ship  would  weigh  anchor.  A  servant  with  a  lantern 
was  sent  with  us  half  a  mile  to  the  Bund,  where  he 
bowed  politely,  and  left  us  with  the  pleasant  native, 
"  Say-o-nara.  "  We  called  a  boat  to  take  us  out  to 
where  our  ship  lay  at  anchor,  and  had  but  one  phrase 
by  which  we  could  communicate  with  our  oarsman — , 


FROM   YOKOHAMA  TO  NAGASAKI.  6 1 

Mitsu  Bishi.  But  that  was  all  we  needed.  A  few 
minutes'  easy  sculling  landed  us  at  the  foot  of  our 
ladder,  and  we  were  soon  in  our  berths,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  fast  asleep. 

Waking  up  on  Sunday  morning,  we  found  our- 
selves in  the  famous  Inland  Sea,  steaming  vigorously 
ahead.  Unfortunately,  the  day  was  raw,  the  piercing 
north-west  wind  keeping  us  indoors  nearly  all  the 
time.  But  we  cotdd  not  keep  still,  so  varied  was  the 
scene. 

You  are  to  understand  that  all  Japan  is  of  volcanic 
origin.  The  main  Island  itself  consists  of  a  back- 
bone of  precipitous  mountains  of  volcanic  rock,  with 
ridges  straggling  irregularly  toward  the  sea,  and  val- 
leys of  alluvial  earth  between,  made  of  the  washings 
of  disintegrated  rocks.  Not  over  one-third  part  of 
the  surface  is  tillable.  Besides  the  main  Island  there 
are  three  others  of  good  size,  Yesso  on  the  north, 
and  at  the  south  and  south-east,  Sekok  and  Kiusiu, 
Besides  these,  the  small  islands  are  numbered  by  the 
thousand.  Of  these  a  very  large  proportion  are  in 
this  wonderful  Inland  Sea.  This  sea  is  the  strip  of 
water  that  separates  the  large  islands  of  Sekok  and 
Kiusiu  from  the  main  land.  It  is  literally  full  of 
little  islands,  some  of  which  are  of  a  few  miles' 
extent,  and  some  only  a  few  yards  of  naked  rock, 
just  jutting  above  the  surface  of  the  water.  But  all 
of  them  that  are  of  any  size  rise  precipitously  from 
the  water,  or,  at  least,  at  a  sharp  angle,  and  you  find 
yourself  gliding  through  a  wilderness  of  them 
throughout  the  whole  extent  of  this  sea,  and  even 
beyond  it,  out  in  the  great  ocean  bordering  Kiusiu 
on  the  west. 


62  FROM  YOKOHAMA  TO  NAGASAKI. 

All  up  the  slopes  of  these  islands,  wherever  there 
is  soil  sufficient  to  sprout  turnips,  it  is  terraced,  and 
in  cultivation.  There  are  many  little  patches 
between  ridges  of  rocks  of  apparently  only  a  few 
square  yards  in  extent,  that  are  made  to  yield  all  they 
can  to  the  imperious  demand  of  an  over-crowded 
population.  Some  of  the  mountain-sides  are  liter- 
ally covered  with  terraces  and  little  bits  of  fields  to 
the  very  summit,  and  on  some  others  a  straggling 
cultivation  insinuates  itself  here  and  there  Avherever 
it  can  maintain  an  obstinate  foothold  among  sur- 
rounding rocks.  Some  of  them  must  be  mere 
patches  by  which  the  fishermen  supplement  the  pre- 
carious supply  of  the  waters.  It  is  amazing  by  what 
toil  these  people  compel  a  scanty  subsistence  from 
the  reluctant  nature  upon  which  they  have  been  cast 
— for  nature  here  seems  but  a  beautiful  step-mother 
whose  heart  is  adamant,  and  who  opens  no  generous 
hand  to  her  foster-children.  She  seems  to  say  to 
them  all  as  they  come,  "  Root,  pig,  or  die."  If  the 
reader  is  not  charmed  with  the  elegance  of  this  clas- 
sical quotation,  I  hope  he  will  appreciate  its  expres- 
siveness. I  can  think  of  nothing  else  that  comes  up 
to  the  exact  state  of  the  case. 

So  straitened  are  the  people  for  room  that  they 
select  sites  for  villages  apparently  where  the  ground 
is  unavailable  for  cultivation,  and  even  the  cemete- 
ries are  located  where  they  will  not  trench  upon 
valuable  soil.  Not  only  is  this  the  case  here,  but  in 
the  great  valley  between  Kobe  and  Osaka  we  found 
the  inner  slope  of  a  levee  thrown  up  along  a  river  to 
protect  the  fields  from  overflow,  used  for  a  burying- 
ground.     Thus  even  the  dead  are  crowded  off  into 


from  Yokohama  to  Nagasaki.  63 

unsightly  corners  to  make  room  for  the  living.  And 
all  that  care  and  labor  can  do  to  make  the  earth 
yield  her  increase  is  done.  Every  thing  that  can  be 
used  for  compost  to  fatten  the  soil  is  saved  and  made 
the  most  of.  Neither  from  the  house  nor  stable  is 
any  thing  allowed  to  go  to  waste.  Any  gill  of  stuff, 
no  matter  what,  that  will  contribute  to  the  larger 
growth  of  a  few  rice,  or  wheat,  or  cotton-stalks,  is 
sedulously  preserved  for  use  at  the  right  moment. 
Nor  is  any  labor  spared.  Every  clod  is  pulverized 
as  if  for  an  ornamental  garden.  Every  weed  is 
exterminated  the  moment  it  shows  its  head.  We 
saw  fields  made  where  the  soil  had  all  been  taken  off 
for  the  grading  of  the  railroad,  and  a  new  and  excel- 
lent soil  had  been  made. 

In  this  Inland  Sea  ever}''  island  of  one  or  two  miles 
in  extent  has  its  villages,  its  cemeteries,  its  fishing- 
boats,  and  its  little  fields.  On  one,  which  we  judged 
to  be  not  over  two  miles,  or  at  the  most  two  and  a 
half  in  length,  and  which  at  the  highest  point  was 
at  least  five  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
I  counted  three  villages.  Its  population  could  not 
have  been  less  than  one  thousand  on  the  side  next 
to  us,  and  what  was  on  the  other  side  I  do  not 
know. 

The  scenery  is  picturesque  in  the  highest  degree, 
but  in  early  summer,  when  all  the  fields  are  waving 
wTith  the  growing  crops,  these  hill-sides  must  be 
inexpressibly  beautiful.  Even  now  there  are  green 
fields  of  turnips  and  radishes  to  break  the  monotony 
and  cheer  the  eye.  Two  crops,  one  of  cereals  and 
one  of  vegetables,  are  produced  on  the  same  land. 
Indeed  there  is  often  a  crop  of  cotton  or  rice  made 


64         FROM  YOKOHAMA  TO  NAGASAKI. 

after  one  of  wheat.  The  cotton  is  planted  in  rows 
between  the  rows  of  wheat — every  thing  is  in  rows 
as  straight  as  a  line — a  month  before  harvest,  so  that 
when  the  wheat  is  taken  off  the  cotton  will  be  three 
or  four  inches  high.  If  rice  is  to  follow,  it  is  in  beds 
ready  for  transplanting,  and  so  soon  as  the  wheat 
is  removed  the  ground  is  prepared  and  flooded,  and 
the  rice  set  out. 

The  sea  yields  abundantly  after  its  kind.  Fish 
nowhere  abounds  more  than  in  Japanese  waters,  and 
everything  is  eaten.  I  saw  whale  and  shark  meat 
in  the  market  at  Nagasaki — yes,  and  for  that  matter, 
an  eagle  ;  and  the  old  market-woman  whom  we  ques- 
tioned as  to  the  eating  of  eagles,  gave  an  unmen- 
tionable reason  why  the  men  eat  them. 

Thus  the  people  compel  reluctant  nature,  and 
manage  to  wring  from  the  chary  step-dame  food  for 
the  millions  that  crowd  her  rocky  bosom. 

So  passed  our  Sabbath  in  the  Inland  sea,  alter- 
nately reading  the  Scriptures  and  looking  out  upon 
the  mingled  scenes  of  natural  beauty  and  human 
toil,  unrelieved  by  any  hallowed  day.  On  them  was 
the  primal  curse  of  labor,  unrelieved  by  our  blessed 
Sabbath  light.  How  my  heart  yearned  toward 
them  !  O  my  blessed  Lord,  when  will  thy  sluggish 
Church  send  its  message  of  peace  to  every  one  of 
these  villages? 

After  stopping  once  on  Monday  morning  at  a  town, 
the  name  of  which  escapes  me,  we  steamed  out  into 
the  Pacific  and  rounded  the  southern  point  of  Kinsin, 
all  the  while  among  thick  islands,  and  on  Tuesday 
morning  awoke  at  Nagasaki.  Soon  after  break- 
fast, Mr.  Davidson,  of  the  M.  E.   Church,  came  on 


FROM  YOKOHAMA  TO  NAGASAKI.         65 

board,  and  as  our  ship  was  to  remain  here  till  mid- 
night, we  went  ashore  with  him  to  spend  the  day. 
It  turned  out  to  be  a  rainy  day,  but  we  walked 
through  the  dirtiest  streets  we  had  seen  in  Japan  for 
two  or  three  hours.  We  saw  many  things  that  I 
cannot  now  describe.  We  saw  the  manufacture  of 
tortoise-shell,  which  was  perhaps  the  only  thing  done 
here  which  we  had  not  seen  in  the  cities  farther  north. 
There  was  another  thing  we  took  a  moment's  interest 
in.  Passing  along  a  street  we  heard  a  sound  which 
I  supposed  to  be  that  of  some  sort  of  simple  instru- 
ment of  music,  but  upon  going  in  we  found  half  a 
dozen  men  preparing  cotton-lint  with  the  violent 
vibration  of  a  stretched  cord,  as  I  used  to  see  hatters 
prepare  felt  for  making  hats. 

After  lunch,  in  the  pleasant  family  of  our  friend, 
we  called  on  Mr.  Mangum,  the  U.  S.  Consul  at  this 
port,  to  whom  I  had  a  letter  from  his  relative,  Pro- 
fessor Mangum,  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina. 
We  spent  a  pleasant  half-hour  with  him,  and  then 
took  our  leave  of  Japan. 

We  are  now  fifty  miles  out  on  our  way  to  China, 
but  the  ocean  on  our  right  is  still  strewed  with 
Japanese  islands,  some  of  them  quite  extensive  -and 
populous.     We  hope  to  reach  Shanghai  on  Thursday 


morning. 


3* 


CHAPTER  VI. 

LIFE    IN    DAI    NIPPON. 

IT  WILL  be  difficult  to  convey  to  the  American 
any  accurate  idea  of  the  actual  life  of  the  people 
of  this  country;  nevertheless,  I  will  make  some 
effort  in  that  line. 

To  begin  with  the  houses :  The  first  thing  a  for- 
eigner will  notice  is  that  the  farmers  live  in  villages, 
that  the  houses  are  generally  only  of  one  story,  except 
in  the  largertowns  and  cities,  where  they  are  often  two 
stories,  the  second  being  scarcely  more  than  a  half- 
story.  They  are  almost  invariably  destitute  of  paint, 
both  inside  and  out,  which  gives  them  a  very  dingy 
appearance.  They  are  constructed  sometimes  of 
plank  set  upright,  the  edges  fitting  square  against 
each  other;  sometimes  of  mud,  supported  by  a  frame 
of  timbers,  and  sometimes  only  of  matting.  In  the 
day-time  almost  the  whole  front  is  open,  or  else  par- 
tially closed  by  sliding  windows,  which  consist  of  a 
sort  of  thin  paper,  very  tough  and  semi-transparent, 
which  is  pasted  upon  a  sash  with  small  squares. 
Often  there  are  several  frames  of  these  sash,  which 
slide  back  and  forth,  so  that  they  may  be  entirely 
closed,  or  partially  or  wholly  opened,  at  will.  At 
night  a  sliding  door  is  put  in,  outside  of  the  paper 
window,  and  all  is  snugly  closed.  A  floor  covers, 
only  a  part  of  the   area  inside,   usually  the   greater 


LIFE  IN  DAI  NIPPON.  6/ 

part,  there  always  being  a  space  inside  in  which  there 
is  only  the  bare  ground.  The  floor  is  a  neat  plat- 
form about  two  feet  high,  and  is  always  covered  with 
matting,  except  that  often  on  the  front  edge  there  is 
a  strip  of  naked  plank.  This  matting  is  always  as 
clean  as  clean  can  be,  and  the  naked  part  of  the  floor 
not  only  clean,  but  polished  until  it  fairly  glistens. 
The  roof  is  sometimes  of  thatch,  very  thick,  often 
eighteen  inches,  with  the  edges  at  the  eaves  cut 
accurately  upon  a  horizontal  line,  which  gives  it  a 
very  neat  aspect ;  sometimes  of  tiles,  very  heavy,  the 
joints  often  covered  with  ridges  of  white  cement, 
giving  the  roof  a  singular  striped  appearance  ;  and 
sometimes,  though  very  rarely,  of  shingles,  which 
are  extremely  thin,  almost  as  thin  as  a  very  heavy 
shaving. 

In  the  houses  there  is  no  furniture — no  table,  no 
chairs,  no  bedsteads.  The  people  sit  on  the  clean 
mats,  and  be  it  known,  no  shoe  ever  comes  upon  the 
mat,  these  always  being  dropped  on  the  naked  piece 
of  ground  already  mentioned.  The  shoe,  as  I  shall 
describe  hereafter,  is  so  made  that  there  is  no  diffi- 
culty in  dropping  or  resuming  it.  In  sitting  down, 
they  drop  on  their  knees  and  then  back  on  their 
heels,  the  ankle  joint  being  bent  so  that  the  instep 
lies  upon  the  floor.  Accustomed  from  childhood  to 
this  posture,  the  knee  and  ankle-joints  seem  to  have 
become  adapted  to  it.  They  sleep  either  on  the 
naked  mat,  covering  themselves  with  cotton-stuffed 
quilts,  or  at  best  have  a  quilt  under  as  well  as  over 
them.  As  for  eating,  they  either  hold  a  dish  in  their 
hands,  or  set  it  on  the  floor,  or  on  a  little  fixture  no 
larger  than  a  stool,  and  serving  only  for  one  person. 


68  LIFE    IN    DAI    NIPPON. 

No  Japanese  house  has  a  chimney.  For  fire, 
sometimes  there  is  a  square  opening  in  the  floor, 
and  sometimes  a  brazier  sitting  on  the  floor.  In  either 
case  the  fire-bed  is  half  filled  with  ashes,  and  the  fire 
made  of  a  handful  of  charcoal.  I  never  saw  a  fire 
in  a  Japanese  house  made  of  any  thing  else,  or  in 
any  other  way.  A  few  instances  I  saw  of  a  separate 
fire  under  a  shed  for  cooking,  but  as  a  rule  the  fire 
that  warms  their  fingers  cooks  their  food  also.  The 
bed  of  live  coals  is  half  covered  with  ashes,  and  it  is 
astonishing  how  long  one  handful  will  last.  On  a 
cold  day  you  will  see  the  people  hovering  round 
the  brazier  and  holding  their  fingers  close  down  over 
the  fire,  and  upon  approaching  you  will  find  quite  a 
degree  of  warmth  within  a  few  inches,  but  the  gen- 
eral temperature  of  the  room  is  not  affected. 

In  the  towns,  and  even  the  large  cities,  the  stores 
are  mere  shops,  and  very  small  at  that.  One  country 
store  in  America  will  keep  a  stock  worth  a  half- 
dozen  of  the  average  shops  of  Tokio  or  Yokohama. 
I  saw  a  few  exceptions — notably,  the  porcelain 
bazaar  on  the  Desima  at  Nagasaki,  the  establish- 
ment that  sent  of  its  wares  to  the  Centennial.  The 
proprietor  told  us  he  sent  over  too  much — more  than 
his  agent  had  been  able  to  sell.  Usually,  one  shop 
in  the  cities  deals  only  in  a  certain  line  of  goods. 
There  are  no  great  factories  in  Japan ;  nothing  is 
made  by  machinery ;  and  you  will  often  see  the  man- 
ufacture of  goods  and  their  sale  in  the  same  house. 
We  saw  baskets,  shoes,  needles,  tortoise-shell  work, 
and  other  things,  being  made  by  hand  in  the  shops 
where  they  were  sold.  The  shops  are  very  small, 
and   have   little    back-rooms    to    accommodate    the 


LIFE    IN    DAI    NIPPON.  69 

family,  the    wife  often  waiting  on    customer's  when 
there  is  a  press  of  business,  she  being  in  easy  call. 

A  vast  amount  of  hard  work  is  done  in  a  sitting 
posture.  The  blacksmith  has  his  furnace  very  low, 
and  his  anvil  sits,  like  himself,  on  the  ground.  I  saw 
a  number  at  their  work  in  this  way,  and  they  work 
very  efficiently,  too,  seated  on  their  knees  and  heels. 
Of  course,  there  are  some  sorts  of  work  that  bring 
them  to  their  feet,  but  the  greater  part  is  done  as  I 
have  described.  I  have  seen  a  carpenter  sitting  in 
like  manner  planing  lumber,  and  sliding  the  board 
along  instead  of  moving  himself.  By  the  way,  they 
handle  their  tools  differently  from  us.  Both  in  sawing 
and  planing,  they  draw  the  tool  toward  them,  instead 
of  pushing  it.  The  saw  is  short,  and  becomes  wider 
in  the  direction  in  which  ours  becomes  narrow,  ter- 
minating abruptly,  or  at  a  slight  angle.  The  stock 
of  the  plane  is  not  more  than  an  inch  and  a  half 
thick,  and  is  grasped  by  the  hands,  having  no  handle 
at  all.  This  mode  of  sawing  and  planing,  drawing 
the  implement  towards  you,  is  said  to  be  very  efficient 
when  the  sleight  is  once  acquired;  but  I  must  confess 
it  seems  very  odd  to  me.  Nor  are  these  the  only 
things  they  do  the  wrong  way.  The  tailor  holds  his 
needle  stationary  in  his  left  hand,  and  wriggles  his 
seam  upon  the  point  of  it,  working  the  cloth  with  his 
right  hand.  They  also  mount  their  horses  from  the 
right  instead  of  the  left  side.  I  have  heard  it  said 
here  that  they  laugh  when  we  weep,  and  do  not 
laugh  on  the  same  occasions  as  we.  But  that  is  to 
be  classed  with  the  hasty  and  extravagant  things  you 
.  will  always  hear  among  foreigners.  I  have  never 
.'  failed  to  see  them  laugh  heartily  and  spontaneously 


^0  LIFE    IN    DAI    NIPPON. 

at  the  very  things  which  amuse  us ;  and  they  seem  to 
me  to  be  as  quick  to  see  the  point  where  there  is 
any  fun. 

The  costume  of  the  sexes  is  the  same,  or  was  until 
foreign  suggestion  came  in,  which  has  effected  some 
changes  about  the  cities ;  still  the  old  style  prevails. 
There  is  a  loose  garment,  open  in  front,  but  lapping 
over  largely,  so  as  to  conceal  the  person  effectually, 
fastened  around  the  waist  with  a  sash,  or  girdle,  and 
reaching  to  the  feet.  Over  this  there  is  another 
shorter  garment,  a  sort  of  blouse,  with  large  sleeves. 
This  is  generally  left  loose,  though  it  is  sometimes 
fastened  about  the  waist  by  a  belt.  These  garments 
are  of  thin  cotton  goods  generally,  but  the  well-to-do 
have  them  of  better  stuff,  and  if  the  wearer  is  rich, 
they  are  sometimes  of  very  costly  silks. 

Sometimes  the  cooly  wears  only  the  blouse,  with 
a  bandage  about  the  loins,  which  does  not  always 
serve  the  ends  of  decency.  The  lower  limbs,  in  that 
case,  are  naked  from  the  hips  down.  I  saw  a  good 
many  instances  of  that  sort,  and  before  the  advent 
of  foreigners  they  were  much  more  common.  Since 
the  revolution,  the  laws  forbid  the  public  exposure 
of  the  person — since  that  time,  especially  in  the  cities 
frequented  by  foreigners,  there  has  been  quite  an 
innovation  in  the  style  of  dress  among  the  coolies. 
They  have  a  style  of  pantaloons  that  fit  as  close  as 
the  skin — so  that  you  wonder  how  they  ever  get  out 
or  in.  But  I  discovered,  upon  close  observation, 
that  there  was  a  slit  at  the  ankle,  and  the  edges 
lapped  and  fastened,  perhaps  by  a  stitch.  This  gar- 
ment I  thought  very  becoming.  As  Dr.  Anderson 
would  say,  the  men  seem  as  if  they  might  have  been 


LIFE   IN, DAI   NIPPON.  71 

melted  and  poured  in.  Over  these  the  blouse  is 
worn,  and  the  effect  is  as  becoming  as  any  cheap 
dress  I  ever  saw.  A  lady  told  me  at  Tokio  that  the 
whole  suit  of  her  jinrikisha  man,  breeches  and  blouse, 
did  not  cost  above  fifty  cents.  It  was  of  blue  cotton 
goods,  and  decidedly  neat.  This  new  style  of  dress  is 
more  worn  among  jinrikisha  men  than  any  other  class 
of  laborers,  for  two  reasons :  one  is  that  foreigners, 
especially  ladies,  will  not  ride  after  naked  lower 
limbs ;  and  the  other,  that  these  breeches  do  not  em- 
barrass rapid  motion  as  the  long,  loose  garments  of 
the  natives  do.  This  new  style  has  the  additional 
advantage  of  distinguishing  between   the  sexes. 

In  the  native  dress  the  chief  distinction  of  costume, 
as  between  the  men  and  women,  is  in  the  style  of 
the  hair.  The  men  shave  a  strip  of  scalp,  from  the 
forehead  to  the  crown  of  the  head,  from  one  and  a 
half  to  three  inches  wide.  Then  the  hair  is  combed 
up  all  round,  and  collected  into  a  mass  at  the  crown, 
being  treated  heavily  to  oil,  so  that  it  adheres  and 
makes  a  round  handful,  which  is  turned  back  sharp 
and  tied  with  a  string,  then  turned  forward  sharp  and 
tied  again,  so  as  to  lie  pointing  forward  on  the  shaven 
scalp,  about  midway  of  which  it  is  cut  off  square. 
Nothing  could  be  more  arbitrary  or  unartistic.  The 
women  dress  their  hair  in  a  much  more  becoming 
way,  parting  it  in  the  middle,  and  making  one  or  two 
round  puffs  on  the  back  very  smooth,  and  often  quite 
pretty.  But  I  have  seen  very  few  women  here  who 
would  be  called  handsome,  and  the  married  ones 
make  themselves  unnecessarily  ugly  by  shaving  the 
eyebrows  and  blacking  the  teeth.  To  my  eye  it  is 
really  disgusting. 


J2  LIFE   IN    DAI    NIPPON. 

Neither  men  nor  women  dress  their  own  hair,  but 
even  the  poorest  of  them  employ  the  professional 
hair-dresser.  His  services  are  in  demand,  however, 
only  once  or  twice  a  week.  They  sleep  with  the 
neck  resting  on  a  small  roll  on  a  little  block  of  wood, 
so  that  the  hair  is  not  disturbed,  and  the  oil-dressing 
keeps  it  smooth  several  days.  But  now  a  good 
many  of  them  are  falling  into  the  foreign  mode, 
especially  the  men. 

The  unadulterated  native  goes  bare-headed,  except 
occasionally  a  broad  bamboo  head-shade  may  be 
seen.     Nearly  all,  however,  are  wholly  uncovered. 

The  Japanese  shoe  is  a  wonderful  thing.  It  is 
sometimes  a  sandal,  sometimes  a  clog.  The  sandal  is 
made  of  wheat  or  rice-straw,  and  is  much  more  dur- 
able than  a  foreigner  would  believe.  Occasionally 
you  will  see  them  with  a  leather  sole  adhering  to  the 
underside ;  but  they  are  generally  all  straw.  The 
clog  is  a  piece  of  board,  cut  the  size  of  the  foot,  and 
elevated  from  the  ground  by  other  pieces  of  board, 
one  near  the  heel  and  one  near  the  toe,  inserted  tight 
in  grooves,  and  glued.  These  pieces  raise  the  foot 
two,  three,  and  I  have  seen  them  as  much  as  four 
inches.  Both  clogs  and  sandals  are  secured  upon 
the  foot  by  a  cord  coming  up  between  the  big  and 
second  toes  and  coming  back  over  the  sides  of  the 
foot.  They  are  often  worn  on  the  bare  foot,  but 
sometimes  with  a  short  stocking,  knit  with  a  separate 
place  for  the  big  toe,  like  the  thumb  of  a  glove,  to 
make  a  place  for  the  cord  which  holds  the  shoe  in 
place.  By  a  momentary  movement  the  shoe  is 
released  from  the  foot,  and  it  is  always  left  off  at  the 
entrance   of   temples,   churches,   and  school-houses, 


LIFE    IN    DAI    NIPPON. 


73 


and  in  the  uncovered  space  of  dwellings,  so  that  no 
dust  nor  mud  is  taken  in  upon  the  carpet,  or,  more 
properly,  the  mat. 

Would  you  believe  that  horses  are  shod  with  rice- 
straw  ?  Believe  it  or  not,  as  you  please,  I  affirm  it, 
being  an  eye-witness — and  not  horses  only,  but  oxen, 
too,  for  that  matter. 

Only  a  few  wealthy  people  ride  on  horseback, 
Often  in  the  mountains  men  are  carried  on  the 
shoulders  of  coolies,  by  a  very  simple  contrivance; 
and  this  wras  the  case  everywhere  until  the  jinrikisha 
was  introduced.  There  are  no  native  wheeled  vehi- 
cles, except  a  very  rude  sort  of  cart  or  wagon,  all  of 
wood,  the  wheels  being  made  of  two  layers  of  plank 
nailed  together,  having  a  rim  of  a  species  of  very 
tough  timber.  The  jinrikisha  is  the  invention  of  a 
foreigner,  within  the  last  six  or  seven  years,  and  is 
believed  really  to  have  lightened  the  task  of  those 
who  were  accustomed  to  carry  travelers.  The  Em- 
pire owes  it  to  a  missionary. 

You  see  children  everywhere  in  swarms,  and  there 
is  the  queerest  mode  of  carrying  them.  The  blouse, 
or  loose  upper  garment  of  the  nurse,  is  drawn  down 
and  back  from  the  back  part  of  the  neck,  making  it 
very  loose  on  the  back,  and  it  is  then  made  fast  at  the 
waist  by  a  belt.  This  makes  a  sack  into  which  the 
babe  may  be  dropped  on  the  back  of  its  nurse.  Girls 
too  young  for  heavy  work  are  put  to  this  service. 
I  have  seen  some  who  could  not  have  been  more 
than  six  or  seven  years  old,  cruelly  burdened  in  this 
way.  Often  the  old  grandmother,  and  sometimes 
old  men,  are  thus  employed,  and  at  Tokio  I  saw  a 
boy  ten  or  twelve  years  old  with  a  baby  on  his  back. 


74  LIFE    IN    DAI    NIPPON. 

The  women  not  unfrequently  do  out-of-doors 
work.  At  Nagasaki  they  assisted  in  coaling  our 
ship.  You  often  see  them  at  the  loom  or  wheel,  sit- 
ting on  the  floor  or  a  low  stool,  hard  at  work.  I 
wish  I  could  describe  one  of  the  looms,  but  I 
despair.  It  is  very  small,  but  used  with  great  dex- 
terity. In  fact,  everybody  that  is  big  enough,  and 
not  too  old,  is  at  work,  or  engaged  in  the  traffic  of  the 
country.  I  presume  there  are  as  few  idlers  as  are  to 
be  found  anywhere,  and  many  are  greatly  over- 
tasked ;  but  they  must  do  what  offers,  or  else  starve  ; 
and,  indeed,  it  almost  seems  the  next  thing  to  star- 
vation with  the  poor.  They  live  on  rice,  fish,  and 
vegetables — often  on  rice  and  vegetables  alone,  and 
it  is  said  that  the  vegetables  they  use  are  mostly 
various  species  of  turnips  and  radishes,  very  taste- 
less, and  containing  but  little  nutrition  ;  yet  I  believe 
there  is  no  actual  starvation,  and  they  all  seem  to 
get  sufficient  to  keep  them  in  vigorous  working  con- 
dition. 

In  the  middle  and  southern  portions  of  the  Empire 
the  country  is  about  as  thickly  settled,  it  seems  to 
me,  as  it  will  bear ;  but  in  the  extreme  northern  part, 
and  particularly  in  the  Island  of  Yesso,  there  is  much 
excellent  land  that  has  never  been  appropriated. 
The  inhabitants  of  Yesso  seem  to  be  of  a  race  some- 
what different  from  those  farther  south,  and  are  in  a 
much  more  barbarous  condition,  at  least  in  the 
interior. 

There  are  some  beautiful  traits  of  domestic  life 
here.  Filial  duty  is  said  to  be  almost  universal,  and 
the  authority  of  parents  is  held  sacred.  Especially 
is  the  mother  held  in  the  highest  veneration,  and   a 


LIFE    IN    DAI    NIPPON.  75 

son  is  never  so  old  as  to  feel  himself  free  from  her 
authority.  Marriages  are  contracted  in  deference  to 
her  wishes,  and  the  married  son  often  makes  his 
home  with  his  widowed  mother,  in  which  case  the 
wife  and  all  are  under  her  authority. 

The  class  of  abandoned  women  is  very  large,  but 
the  wife,  it  is  believed,  is  almost  always  virtuous  ; 
and  it  is  not  unfrequently  the  case  that  women  pass 
out  of  the  class  of  prostitutes  to  become  wives  and 
mothers.  A  woman  who  is  the  cast-off  mistress  of 
a  foreigner  seems  to  be  at  no  disadvantage  as  to  her 
chances  of  an  honorable  marriage.  Young  women 
who  are  in  their  homes  are  believed  to  be  generally 
virtuous.  But  it  is  not  unfrequently  the  case  that  a 
man  straitened  for  money  will  sell  his  daughter  to  a 
foreigner  to  be  his  concubine,  or  to  the  keeper  of  a 
house  of  ill-fame  for  the  most  infamous  life.  What 
a  blunted  moral  sensibility  there  must  be  where  such 
a  thing  as  that  may  be  done  in  the  face  of  day  !  It 
is  plain  to  me  that  there  can  be  no  high  degree  of 
moral  feeling  where  there  is  no  gospel.  No  form 
of  religious  belief  but  the  Christian  raises  the  sense  of 
shame  and  of  virtue  to  any  thing  like  a  normal  state. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  these  people  are  free 
from  domestic  infelicity.  It  seems  incredible  to  them 
that  foreigners  never  whip  their  wives.  A  native  re- 
cently asked  a  missionary  at  Osaka  how  in  the  world 
Americans  managed  to  make  their  women  behave 
without  beating  them.  O  women  of  my  country! 
will  ye  not  bestir  yourselves  to  give  these  humiliated 
wives  the  gospel,  to  which  you  owe  all  your  elevation 
and  refinement  ? 

One-half  the  money  spent  by  the  women  of  the 


y6  LIFE    IN    DAI    NIPPON. 

Southern  Methodist  Church  for  gewgaws  would  sup- 
port a  hundred  missionaries  in  Japan.  How  long, 
O  how  long,  thou  Son  of  God  !  until  thy  Church 
shall  be  baptized  with  thy  own  spirit  of  love  ?  When 
will  the  day  come  when  every  man  and  every  woman 
who  bears  thy  name  will  come  to  the  help  of  the 
Lord — to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty  ? 
The  Japanese  are  as  capable  of  reaching  the  high- 
est type  of  Christian  character  as  the  European  or 
American.  Many  beautiful  traits  of  character  appear 
among  them — traits  which  show  a  very  high  suscep- 
tibility to  noble  impulses.  They  are  polite,  even  to 
excess.  Some  of  the  most  exquisite  and  delicate 
forms  of  intercourse  mark  their  social  customs. 
What  among  us  can  equal  the  phrase  they  use  at 
parting,  Say-o-nara  ?  The  meaning  of  it  is,  "  Since 
it  must  be  so."  It  shows  an  actual  genius  in  this 
line — it  is  the  very  poetry  of  elegant  manners.  No 
doubt,  there  is  a  little  hypocrisy  in  it  sometimes,  but 
then  what  form  of  g.ood  breeding  is  there  that  is  not 
liable  to  that  abuse  ? 


CHAPTER  VII. 

RELIGION  IN  DAI  NIPPON. 

WHAT  a  man  sees,  he  can  report  with  confi- 
dence, and  no  man  can  pass  through  this 
country  without  seeing  temples  and  shrines 
and  images  until  his  very  eyes  will  be  bewildered. 
St.  Paul  would  have  classed  them  with  the  Athenians. 
It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  temples  are  all 
great  and  costly  structures.  Far  from  it.  There  are 
a  few  such  in  the  cities,  but  scattered  through  the 
country  there  are  many  that  are  mere  shells,  having 
no  beauty,  either  of  design  or  execution.  Nor  are 
the  images  all  found  in  temples.  There  are  a  great 
many  scattered  by  the  wayside,  generally,  I  believe, 
in  connection  with  burial  places.  But  very  often  the 
grave  has  disappeared,  and  the  traveler  will  see 
nothing  but  the  row  of  images.  These  exposed 
images  are  all  small,  at  least  so  far  as  I  saw,  and  cut 
in  high  relief  on  slabs  of  what  seemed  to  be  a  hard 
sandstone,  or  gray  granite.  One  thing  I  observed 
particularly — they  were  all  old.  I  saw  but  one  that 
looked  fresh.  They  were  in  various  stages  of  decay. 
I  saw  some  more  pretentious  deities  standing  out  in 
the  neighborhood  of  temples,  not  in  relief,  but  full 
figures,  of  the  same  material.  Some  were  well  pre- 
served, some  with  mutilated  limbs,  some  with  noses 
crumbled   off,  and  some  that  had  lost   their  heads. 


Y 


78  RELIGION  IN  DAI  NIPPON. 

Truly,  these  gods  are  in  a  bad  way,  and  if  they 
represent  the  religion  of  Japan,  it  needs  revamping 
beyond  doubt. 

The  primitive  religion  of  the  country  was  Sin- 
tooism.  What  this  religion  is  specifically,  I  can 
hardly  say.  The  word  Sinto,  or  Shinto,  means 
simply  the  doctrine  concerning  God.  This  form  of 
religion  still  exists  in  the  country,  and  has  a  good 
many  temples.  Its  priests  claim  that  they  use  no 
images  in  their  worship ;  but  the  only  Sintoo  temple 
of  any  note  that  I  visited  contained  some  life-size 
figures.  The  priests,  however,  explained  to  us  that 
they  were  only  statues  of  men  distinguished  in  Jap- 
anese history.  One  invariable  piece  of  furniture  is  a 
large,  circular  mirror  of  polished  metal.  The  one  I 
saw  was  about  three  feet  in  diameter.  This  mirror 
commemorates  a  great  event  in  Sintoo  mythology. 
It  seems  that  a  very  powerful  goddess  became 
offended  on  some  occasion,  and  falling  into  a  sulky 
mood  went  off  and  hid  herself,  whereupon  great 
calamities  impended,  and  I  know  not  what  extremity 
poor  mortals  were  driven  to,  until  they  bethought 
themselves  to  place  a  mirror  somewhere  in  a  position 
in  which  the  celestial  beauty  would  come  upon  it 
unawares.  The  expedient -was  successful,  for  when 
she  saw  herself  she  was  so  delighted  with  her  own 
beauty  that  she  at  once  came  out  in  the  best  possible 
humor  with  herself  and  everything  else. 

A  silly  mythology  of  this  sort  makes  up,  so  far  as 
I  could  learn,  the  body  of  Sintoo  teaching  as  it  is 
current  in  Japan.  It  goes  back  to  the  beginning  of 
things,  when  the  first  god  and  goddess  were  evolved 
out  of  the  primary  elements,  and  gods  and  goddesses 


RELIGION  IN  DAI  NIPPON.  79 

multiplied,  and  out  of  their  fecundity  the  family  of 
the  Mikadoes  sprung,  so  that  the  Mikado  is  the  rep- 
resentative of  the  divine  presence  on  earth.  It  rep- 
resents that  the  whole  mass  of  the  elements  was 
divided,  so  that  one  part  constituted  heaven  and  the 
other  the  earth,  and  that  these  were  so  near  together 
at  first  that  there  was  a  bridge  between  them,  over 
which  the  gods  had  easy  passage  back  and  forth. 
But  the  separation  became  greater,  and  the  heavens 
lifted,  until  intercourse  became  impossible,  at  least 
on  the  mortal  side,  and  the  Mikado  was  the  only 
divine  object  left  below.  All  this  the  simple  people 
seem  to  have  taken  with  implicit  credulity,  and  it 
certainly  served  the  ends  of  kingcraft  effectually,  for 
to  this  day  the  Emperor  is  regarded  with  supersti- 
tious awe  by  the  great  mass  of  the  people — so  much 
so  that  when  he  goes  out  many  of  them  conceal 
themselves,  thinking  it  wrong  to  look  upon  his  sacred 
person. 

In  the  sixth  century  of  the  Christian  era  Budd- 
hism entered  Japan  from  China  and  Corea,  and  soon 
met  with  popular  favor.  But,  in  becoming  naturalized 
in  its  new  home,  it  became  greatly  modified  in  many 
respects.  Indeed,  not  less  than  five  or  six  great 
sects  were  formed,  all  differing  in  important  respects. 
I  have  no  minute  knowledge  of  these  modifications, 
and  in  this  chapter  I  can  speak  of  its  general  aspects 
only. 

The  moral  code  of  the  Buddhists,  in  Japan  as  in 
India,  is  above  criticism ;  but  as  a  religion,  both  its 
tenets  and  its  practice  are  evil,  and  only  evil,  con- 
tinually ;  at  least  in  its  Japanese  developments.  It 
is  idolatrous  and  superstitious  in  the  last  degree,  and 


SO  RELIGION  IN  DAI  NIPPON. 

many  of  its  rites  and  superstitions  are  as  silly  as  they 
are  abominable.  It  has  its  images  and  shrines 
everywhere,  and  you  would  be  astonished  to  see  the 
similarity  of  it  in  many  respects  to  Roman  Cathol- 
icism. 

-First,  it  is  similar  in  its  modes  of  worship.  This 
similarity  appears,  in  the  first  place,  in  the  general 
fact  that  in  both  the  public  services  are  designed  for 
dramatic  effect.  I  happened  to  witness  a  service  at 
the  celebrated  temple  of  Shiba,  in  Tokio.  There 
was  a  sermon  by  the  priest,  which  was  followed  by 
a  service  in  which  different  parts  were  performed  by 
various  priests,  some  of  whom  were  concealed  in 
recesses,  and  the  intoning,  with  occasional  ringing  of 
bells,  of  various  sizes,  and  posturing  and  genuflex- 
ions, the  whole  of  which  was  contrived  with  a  good 
deal  of  skill,  and  appealed  to  the  imagination  in  a 
very  effective  way.  Besides  this,  there  are  many 
points  of  exact  correspondence,  suggesting  that 
either  the  Buddhists  or  the  Romanists  must  have  bor- 
rowed, the  one  from  the  other,  or  both  from  a  com- 
mon source.  There  is  the  "  holy  water,"  used  for  the 
same  purposes,  and  much  in  the  same  way;  there  is 
the  burning  of  incense;  there  are  the  lighted  tapers; 
there  are  the  images  and  the  prostrations;  there  are 
the  beads,  and  I  know  not  what  all.  In  the  presence 
of  these  things  you  can  scarcely  keep  from  feeling 
that  you  are  witnessing  the  carryings  on  of  the 
priests  of  Rome. 

Nor  has  the  popish  priest  a  monopoly  of  purgatory, 
for  his  Buddhist  rival  manages  this  institution  as  dex- 
terously and  profitably  as  he,  and  much  in  the  same 
way,    having  his  own    methods   o^  getting  the  soul 


RELIGION  IN  DAI  NIPPON.  8 1 

out  of  it — methods  which  he  will  ply  with  greater 
or  less  vigor,  according  to  the  amount  of  the  fee. 
A  man  whose  surviving  relatives  are  sufficiently  rich 
and  liberal  may  have  all  the  machinery  put  into 
operation,  and  get  through  quick;  but  woe  to  the 
trifling  scamp  who  dies  poor,  and  has  no  rich  nor 
generous  kin  to  come  to  his  relief.  He  must  lag 
through  the  full  period  of  his  torments.  So  you  see 
that  purgatory  is  no  richer  source  of  revenue  to  the 
Roman   hierarchy  than  it  is  to  the  JBuddhist  priests. 

Of  course  there  are  some  superstitions  that  are 
peculiar  to  the  latter.  There  is,  for  instance,  a  wooden 
god  in  the  temple  at  Asakusa,  Tokio,  who  is  sup- 
posed to  have  the  power  of  healing  diseases  on  this 
wise :  the  sufferer  rubs  his  hand  over  that  part  of 
the  deity  which  corresponds  to  the  diseased  organ, 
and  then  rubs  it  upon  the  seat  of  the  pain.  It  seems 
incredible,  but  it  is  a  fact,  that  by  the  mere  friction 
of  human  hands  this  good  divinity  has  had  his  nose 
rubbed  down  even  with  his  cheeks ;  the  cheeks  are 
worn  flat;  the  forehead  and  brows  have  suffered  no 
little,  and  there  scarcely  remains  any  trace  of  the 
eyes ;  and  my  traveling  companion  remarked  that, 
from  the  condition  of  another  part  of  his  body,  it 
was  evident  that  colic  must  be  a  prevalent  disease  in 
Japan.  This  fragment  of  a  god  I  myself  saw,  and  I 
saw  several  persons  do  the  prescribed  rubbing. 

At  the  entrance  of  the  great  temples  there  are  two 
huge  figures,  generally  of  wood,  one  on  each  side, 
called  the  "  guardians  of  the  temple."  They  are 
benevolent  deities,  though  all  that  I  saw  had  gro- 
tesque faces.  One  is  supposed  to  welcome  the  good, 
and  the  other  to  repel  the  evil.     Prayers  are  offered 


82 


RELIGION  IN  DAI  NIPPON. 


to  them  after  a  singular  fashion.  The  prayer  writes 
his  petition  on  a  piece  of  paper,  reduces  it,  in  bis 
mouth,  to  the  condition  of  stiff  pulp,  which  he  makes 
into  a  ball,  and  this  he  throws  at  the  prayee.  If  the 
ball  sticks,  the  petition  is  favorably  received  ;  other- 
wise, it  is  denied.  Those  that  I  saw  had  a  great 
number  of  these  little  balls  adhering  to  them — in 
fact,  they  were  peppered  all  over. 


SINGULAR  GATEWAY  BEFORE  HEATHEX  TEMPLES. 

(A  gateway,  similar  to  the  one  represented  in  the  above  illustration, 
stands  in  front  of  nearly  every  heathen  temple  in  Japan.  Its  meaning  is 
unknown.) 


There  are  one  or  more  Sintoo  shrines  which  are 
visited  by  people  from  all  parts  of  the  empire.  I 
was  told  that  poor  people  sometimes  make  a  journey 
of  hundreds  of  miles  on  foot,  and  upon  arriving  they 
cast  a  few  coppers  into  the  treasure-box  of  the 
shrine,     This   is  alL     No  other  worship  is  offered, 


RELIGION  IN  DAI  NIPPON.  83 

it  so  soon  as  they  cast  in  their  offering  they  return. 
In  all  the  temples,  so  far  as  I  saw  or  could  learn,  an 
offering  of  money,  commonly  a  small  sum,  accom- 
panies every  act  of  worship,  but  at  these  particular 
shrines  it  constitutes  the  only  service  rendered. 

It  were,  indeed,  an  endless  task  to  describe  the 
follies  of  this  idolatry,  and  the  reader  would  be  out 
of  patience  with  it  if  called  upon  to  go  through  with 
the  one-hundredth  part  of  it. 

I  have  said  that  the  moral  precepts  of  the  Budd- 
hists are  above  criticism,  and  no  doubt  there  are 
some  who  are  more  or  less  influenced  by  them,  but 
the  general  tone  of  morals  is  very  low.  Impurity 
abounds.  A  missionary  physician,  in  charge  of  a 
dispensary,  told  me  that  he  had  a  very  large  prac- 
tice, and  that  at  least  nine-tenths  of  all  the  cases  that 
he  treated  were  diseases  which  were  the  direct  effect 
of  licentiousness.  He  stated  further,  that  in  propor- 
tion to  their  numbers  as  large  a  proportion  of  these 
cases  were  of  the  Buddhist  priests  as  of  any  other 
class.  These  priests,  you  will  remember — and  this 
is  another  point  in  the  parallel  already  suggested — are 
celibates.  Chastity,  it  may  be  safely  said,  is  a  virtue 
unknown  among  the  men  of  Japan,  and  even  the 
women,  though  many  of  them  are  free  from  actual 
prostitution,  are  restrained  by  causes  very  different 
from  those  supplied  by  the  consciences  of  Christian 
women.  That  delicate  inner  purity  which  prevails 
in  Europe  and  America,  under  the  inspiration  of  the 
Christian  civilization,  is  a  fact  unknown  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  these  people.  The  vitalizing  effect  of 
the  Christian  faith  and  the  ministration  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  these  alone,  can  elevate  human  characte-- 


84  RELIGION  IN  DAI  NIPPON. 

to  that  sensitive  delicacy  of  conscience  which  must 
be  the  ground  of  all  real  chastity. 

But  there  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  the  old  relig- 
ions of  Japan  are  losing  their  hold  upon  the  faith 
of  large  classes  of  the  people.  The  temples  are  not 
thronged  as  they  once  were,  nor  are  their  revenues 
so  ample.  The  influx  of  new  ideas  and  the  presence 
of  foreigners  have  produced  their  effect.  It  has  been 
observed  that  the  presence  of  foreigners  restrains 
many  from  their  devotions  in  the  temples,  and  some- 
times when  they  do  perform  any  act  of  worship  in 
the  presence  of  a  European  or  an  American,  that 
they  may  chance  to  be  acquainted  with,  they  explain 
and  apologize.  They  seem  to  be  conscious  that  the 
whole  business  is  silly  and  worthless.  Even  on  the 
occasion  of  a  festival  at  Shiba,  when  great  pains  were 
taken  to  bring  the  people  together,  and  a  celebrated 
priest  was  officiating,  the  attendance  was  small,  and 
a  large  portion  of  those  present  were  priests.  While 
yet  the  service  was  going  on,  we  saw  a  priest  in 
one  corner  of  the  house  exposing  trinkets,  and  when 
we  proposed  to  purchase  some  for  curiosities,  he  was 
very  ready  to  sell ;  and,  more  than  that,  he  asked  us 
if  we  did  not  desire  to  rent  a  house,  as  he  had  a  very 
good  temple  to  rent  on  easy  terms.  In  fact  a  good 
many  temples  in  Tokio  are  in  use  by  foreigners, 
either  for  residence  or  business,  and  a  Mission- 
school  of  the  M.  E.  Church  is  domiciled  in  one.  The 
public  school  we  visited  at  Kamakura  was  taught  in 
an  unused  temple,  and,  so  far  as  I  could  learn,  this 
state  of  things  obtains  widely,  but  more  especially 
in  those  regions  which  are  frequented  by  foreigners. 
Yet,  no  doubt,  the  great  mass  of  the  people  are  still 


RELIGION  IN  DAI  NIPPON.  85 

sincere  adherents  of  the  faith  of  their  fathers.  But 
the  revolution  of  thought  is  all  the  while  spreading 
and  becoming  more  extensive,  and  it  may  be  safely- 
said  that  the  days  of  idolatry  are  numbered. 

What  then  ?  Will  the  Christian  faith  be  accepted 
in  its  stead?  On  this  point  there  is  ground  of  hope; 
there  is  also  ground- of  apprehension. 

The  European  and  American  civilization  is  uni- 
versally admired,  and  its  superiority  felt ;  and,  as  has 
appeared  in  former  communications,  a  great  effort  is 
now  made,  both  by  the  Government  and  the  more 
intelligent  of  the  people,  to  introduce  it.  Along 
with  this  there  is  the  conviction  in  the  minds  of 
rrfeny,  that  the  Christian  faith  is  at  the  bottom  of 
this  higher  civilization.-  Along  with  this  conviction, 
again,  is  the  disposition  to  regard  this  religion  with 
favor.  But  this  all  does  not  indicate  any  positive 
faith,  at  least  not  necessarily  so,  and  there  are  no 
doubt  many  who  are  well-disposed  toward  Christian- 
ity in  view  of  the  worldly  advantage  which  they  hope 
to  derive  from  it.  Because  it  will  make  Japan  great 
and  prosperous,  they  welcome  it,  and  it  is  believed 
that  this  feeling  is  entertained  by  many  who  have  no 
real  faith  in  its  divine  truth,  and  realize  no  interest  in 
its  saving  mercies — many  who,  indeed,  know  little  or 
nothing  of  its  doctrines.  But  this  favorable  attitude 
of  the  public  mind  toward  the  Christian  religion,  it  is 
hoped,  will  give  its  teachers  access  to  the  people,  and 
serve  as  an  open  door,  which,  if  the  Church  is  true  to 
her  high  calling,  she  may  enter  by  effectual  means. 
Thus,  the  responsibility  comes  upon  the  Church,  so 
that  if  she  fails  the  sin  and  shame  must  lie  upon  her 
conscience. 


86  RELIGION  IN  DAI  NIPPON. 

The  profound  respect  in  which  foreigners  are  held, 
as  representatives  of  a  higher  civilization,  also  gives 
the  missionary  great  power.  In  no  nation  of  the 
East,  perhaps,  is  this  advantage  realized  in  so  high  a 
degree.  Foreigners  are  the  professors  in  her  great 
University,  and  teachers  of  many  of  her  schools. 
Four  or  five  of  the  professors  in  the  University  are 
ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  others  are  earnest  Chris- 
tian men.  Some  of  them„  however,  are  men  who  are 
not  religious. 

The  text-books  in  the  schools  are  translations  of 
American  school-books,  and  one  of  the  Readers  gives 
a  summary  of  Bible-history,  while  in  several  other 
books  there  is  such  incidental  and  reverent  reference 
to  Christianity  as  cannot  but  give  it  a  great  influence 
with  the  pupils. 

To  all  this  is  to  be  added  the  fact  that  missionary 
labor  has  met  with  a  greater  measure  of  actual  suc- 
cess than  in  any  other  field.  It  is  only  since  the  rev- 
olution that  the  field  has  been  at  all  open.  Not  more 
than  five  years  have  elapsed  since  the  first  Church 
was  organized,  and  only  a  very  few  have  existed  over 
two  years.  The  greater  part  of  the  men  in  the  field 
have  come  so  lately  as  scarcely  yet  to  have  got  suf- 
ficient mastery  of  the  language  for  efficient  service. 
Yet,  even  now,  already  one  thousand  converted 
Japanese  have  been  brought  into  the  fold,  and  a  con- 
stantly and  rapidly-increasing  number  of  catechu- 
mens await  admission.  Many  of  the  missionaries 
here  are  men  who  have  had  long  experience  in  China 
and  India,  and  with  one  voice  they  testify  that  they 
have  labored  in  no  field  before  which  was  so  white 
to  the  harvest. 


CHINA.  87 

But  let  it  not  be  supposed  that  the  victory  is  won. 
The  conquest  of  an  empire  to  Christ  is  not  the  work 
of  a  day,  nor  the  easy  achievement  of  a  thoughtless 
hand.  The  detail  of  labor  and  self-denial  by  which 
the  millions  of  Japan  may  be  brought  to  an  intelli- 
gent faith  and  a  state  of  godly  discipline,  is  some- 
thing almost  appalling.  Every  new  convert  must 
have  all  his  ideas  of  life  revolutionized.  What  a 
task  even  such  a  man  as  St.  Paul  had  to  reduce  the 
Churches,  made  up  of  new  converts  from  among  the 
heathen,  to  a  proper  moral  condition ! 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

CHINA. 

ME  HAVE  been  in  China  now  five  or  six 
/  days,  and  have  seen  and  heard  what  might 
fill  a  volume.  In  undertaking  to  communi- 
cate to  friends  the  facts  which  are  of  principal  inter- 
est, I  feel  oppressed  by  the  consciousness  that  no 
adequate  representation  can   be   made — at  least  by 


88  CHINA. 

me.  Several  things  conspire  to  render  this  impos- 
sible. No  rapid  survey  of  conditions  so  new  can  give 
a  stranger  the  accurate  knowledge  which  will  secure 
him  against  mistake ;  and  if  a  writer  blunders,  he 
must,  of  course,  mislead  his  readers.  Then,  what  he 
sees  is  so  unlike  anything  his  readers  know  of,  it 
is  difficult  to  state  facts  so  fully  and' perspicuously  as 
to  give  a  distinct  and  well-defined  view  of  them;  but 
I  will  do  the  best  I  can,  and  feel  assured,  at  least, 
that  my  readers  will  have  information  that  is  as  accu- 
rate as  a  stranger  can  gather. 

As  our  steamer  approached  the  wharf,  our  eyes 
were  cheered  by  the  sight  of  Rev.  J.  W.  Lambuth 
and  his  little  son  Willie  approaching  to  welcome  us 
and  conduct  us  to  their  hospitable  home.  Mounted 
in  the  "  trap,"  we  passed  up  the  Bund,  crossed  a  canal, 
and  trotted  on  until  we  came  to  the  "tsunka-mook- 
ja,"  and  found  ourselves  at  the  gate  of  the  residence 
which  was  to  be  our  home  in  this  distant  region — 
this  strange  world.  Ah  !  what  an  old-time,  Methodist 
welcome  was  in  the  face  and  voice  of  our  dear  Sister 
Lambuth,  as  she  greeted  us  on  the  veranda,  and  how 
fully  has  the  first  tone  of  the  greeting  been  followed 
up  from  that  moment  of  meeting  until  now !  Blessed 
be  the  name  of  God  for  all  the  sweet  charities  and 
endearments  of  Christian  life  and  hospitality !  Our 
Saviour  promised  to  those  who  should  forsake 
houses  and  lands  and  homes  for  the  gospel's  sake, 
that  they  should  have  a  hundred-fold,  even  in  this 
present  time — fathers,  mothers,  brothers,  sisters, 
homes — and  I  hereby  testify  that  he  has  kept 
his  word  to  me.  In  America,  in  Japan,  in 
China,  he  has   made    the   promise   good,-     He  pur- 


CHINA.  89 

sues    me  with  his  mercies  even  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth. 

On  entering  China  from  Japan  one  is  struck  with 
the  difference  in  several  particulars.  You  approach 
Shanghai  through  the  mouth  of  the  Yang  Tse  river, 
one  of  the  largest  in  the  world.  You  feel  at  once 
that  you  are  in  the  presence  of  a  continent — not  an 
island.  In  Japan  you  are  confronted  by  bold  moun- 
tains everywhere — here  you  see  only  a  vast  plain, 
elevated  but  a  little  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  At 
Shanghai,  forty  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
the  tide  rises  and  falls  several  feet,  so  slight  is  the 
elevation  of  the  land.  The  contrasts  appear,  also, 
in  the  first  sight  you  get  of  the  people.  There  is  the 
most  striking  absence  of  the  cleanliness  of  the  Jap- 
anese. There  even  the  coolies  have  the  appearance 
of  being  washed,  here  they  look  filthy.  There  the 
little  boats  that  ply  about  the  harbor  for  chance  jobs, 
though  innocent  of  paint,  are  scoured  every  day,  and 
have  the  inviting  aspect  of  cleanliness — here  they 
are  dirty-looking,  though  some  are  painted.  Here 
the  clothing  of  many  of  the  laborers  is  a  mere  mass 
of  rags — while  there  the  poorest,  even  if  only  half- 
clad,  show  an  aspect  of  neatness  in  .  the  scant  gar- 
ments they  have. 

But  the  contrasts  are  not  all  in  favor  of  the  Japan- 
ese. Many  of  the  native  boats  are  larger  and  of  a 
better  class  than  any  you  see  in  Japanese  waters,  and 
many  of  them  are  painted.  But  they  have  a  foolish 
practice  of  painting  an  eye  on  each  side  of  the  bow 
of  the  boat.  They  say  it  could  not  see  how  to  go 
without  this.  Whether  this  is  a  superstition,  or  a 
mere  fancy  and  fashion,  I  am  sure  I  do  not  know. 


90  CHINA. 

The  foreign  settlements  are  larger  and  more  sightly 
than  at  Yokohama.  Many  of  the  business  houses 
are  massive  and  imposing. 

As  for  the  native  city,  what  shall  I  say?  There  is 
nothing  like  it  in  Japan.  After  all  I  had  heard  and 
read  of  Oriental  cities,  this  one  had  the  advantage  of 
absolute  novelty  to  me  on  first  sight.  I  had  been 
betrayed  into  the  expectation  of  finding  all  the 
houses  here  as  low  as  those  in  the  great  cities  of 
Japan,  and  did  not  think  but  that  the  streets  would 
be  about  the  same  width  ;  for  those  were  narrow 
enough  in  all  reason.  The  houses,  indeed,  are  not 
very  much  higher  here,  but  the  streets  are  so  exces- 
sively narrow  as  to  make  them  seem  so.  Even  the 
principal  streets  are  not  above  eight  or  ten  feet  wide, 
and  in  many  of  them  a  man  can  stand  in  the  middle 
and  touch  the  houses  on  both  sides.  Imagine  a 
great  city  with  all  its  going  and  coming  in  such 
thoroughfares.  Even  in  the  foreign  concessions,  out- 
side of  the  walls,  where  the  streets  are  much  wider — 
though  still  very  narrow  to  the  eye  of  an  American 
— the  crowd  is  such  that  it  is  a  task  to  get  along. 
You  are  to  remember  that  there  are  no  vehicles  pos- 
sible in  those  crowded  ways — that  is,  I  mean  in  the 
walled  part  of  the  city.  Every  thing  is  borne  on 
men's  shoulders.  All  the  goods  that  are  sold,  all 
the  food  that  is  eaten,  all  the  water  that  is  used, 
all  the  garbage  and  offal  that  are  removed,  are  borne 
by  men.  If  the  burden  is  very  great  k  is  suspended 
from  a  bamboo-pole  and  carried  by  two  men. 
Smaller  weights  are  carried  by  one  man,  two  buck- 
ets, boxes,  or  whatever  it  may  be,  being  suspended, 
one  upon  each  end  of  the  pole,  which   is  balanced 


CHINA.  91 

upon  the  shoulder.  Thus  the  entire  local  transpor- 
tation of  a  great  city  is  carried  on.  The  cargoes  of 
great  steamships  and  of  innumerable  junks  are  dis- 
tributed in  this  way.  Even  in  the  wider  streets  of 
the  concessions  there  is  no  vehicle  larger  than  the 
wheelbarrow,  propelled  by  one  man,  though  for- 
eigners drive  around  in  traps  drawn  by  one  horse — 
occasionally  by  two.  The  jinrikisha  has  been  intro- 
duced, also,  from  Japan;  but  the  heavy  work  is  done 
by  overloaded  men.  Here,  as  in  Japan,  human  mus- 
cle is  the  most  abundant  and  cheapest  thing  in  the 
market. 

Every  "  trap  "  has  a  coolie  perched  behind,  and 
keeping  a  lookout  ahead,  to  shout  to  the  crowd, 
warning  them  of  danger,  yet  the  driver  trots  ahead — • 
and  the  wonder  of  wonders  to  me  is  that  people  are 
not  run  over.  The  pedestrian  has  to  be  constantly 
on  the  dodge  to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  traps,  jinriki- 
shas,  and  wheelbarrows,  and  they  often  brush  his 
clothes;  but  mine  host  assured  me  that  he  had  never 
upset  a  man  yet.  There  are  two  standing  miracles 
in  the  world — one  is  that  any  boy  lives  to  be  ten 
years  old,  and  the  other  that  men  traverse  the  streets 
of  a  Chinese  city  without  getting  their  necks  broken. 
But  within  the  walls  of  the  city  there  are  no  traps, 
jinrikishas,  or  wheelbarrows — there  is  no  space  for 
them — and  very  rarely  a  man  on  horseback  or  don- 
key-back— still,  progress  is  only  a  series  of  dodges. 
You  dodge  those  you  meet  every  two  steps  ;  you 
dodge  to  get  ahead  of  slow  walkers  ;  you  dodge  the 
heavy  loads  that  dangle  from  the  bamboo-poles, 
many  of  them  being  open  buckets  brimful  of  the 
most  offensive  slops ;    you   dodge  the   sedan   chairs, 


92  CHINA. 

and  thus  literally  wriggle  along  the  streets.  I  always 
experience  a  sense  of  relief  when  I  get  indoors  again, 
and  find  myself  out  of  the  hubbub. 

The  Chinese,  like  the  Japanese,  propel  their  small 
boats  by  sculling,  instead  of  rowing.  The  skill  of 
the  Japanese  in  this  interested  me  much,  but  the 
Chinese  excel  them,  having  a  more  efficient  method. 
There  is  a  rope  attached  to  the  upper  end  of  the  oar, 
and  at  the  other  extremity  to  the  side  of  the  boat; 
and  while  one  hand  grasps  the  oar  the  other  aids  the 
stroke  by  pulling  backward  and  forward  upon  the 
rope.  The  force  with  which  they  move  forward  is 
something  wonderful.  We  crossed  a  considerable 
river,  in  which  the  tide  was  running  out  with 
a  pretty  strong  current,  with  eight  passengers,  and 
one  man  to  work  the  oar.  We  crossed  at  a  slight 
angle  against  the  current,  and  the  little  craft  actually 
made  a  bee-line  to  the  point  of  landing.  I  am  cer- 
tain that  if  it  had  been  a  skiff,  with  two  men  to  row 
it,  it  would  have  yielded  perceptibly  to  the  force  of 
the  stream.  Another  thing  that  surprises  me  about 
this  sculling  is  the  accuracy  with  which  a  man,  with 
only  one  oar,  worked  backward  and  forward  at  the 
rear  end  of  his  boat,  oan  direct  its  course.  He  drives 
to  his  point  within  a  hair's-breadth.  The  Orientals 
do  some  things  better  than  we. 

But  oh,  the  filth  of  a  Chinese  city!  The  smells! 
the  smells !  the  smells !  Ugh !  I  have  no  such 
mastery .  of  language  as  will  enable  me  to  do 
justice  to  this  subject — but  if  I  had  I  would  not 
attempt  it,  for  a  civilized  man  would  have  to  hold 
his  nose  to  read  it. 

We  have  just   returned    from   a  trip   to   Ningpo. 


CHINA.  93 

The  "we"  of  my  letters  always  includes  Mr.  Hend- 
rix,  and  in  this  instance  it  includes  also  Mr.  Parker, 
of  Soochow.  We  were  led  to  make  this  visit  partly 
on  account  of  the  celebrity  of  the  wood  carvings  of 
that  place,  but  mainly  because  it  is  one  of  the  oldest 
Protestant  Mission-fields  in  China,  having  been  occu- 
pied now,  by  the  Presbyterians  and  Baptists,  for  some 
thirty-two  or  thirty-three  years.  We  had  an  elegant 
steamboat,  belonging  to  a  native  Chinese  company. 
These  boats,  by  special  order  of  the  company,  take 
all  ministers  of  the  gospel  at  half-fare.  What  think 
you  of  that  for  a  company  of  heathen  steamboat 
owners?  The  captain,  an  American,  was  a  most 
delightful  gentleman,  who  made  our  trip  as  agreeable 
as  possible.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Leyenberger,  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Mission,  met  us  the  moment  the  boat  landed, 
and  took  us  to  his  home  for  breakfast,  where  we  met 
Mr.  Butler,  his  colleague.  These  gentlemen,  first 
one  and  then  the  other,  devoted  themselves  to  us 
during  the  day,  and  their  kindness  was  as  hearty 
as  it  was  serviceable ;  for  through  them  we  were 
enabled  to  make  the  most  of  the  one  day  we  had  for 
this  place.  Here,  for  the  first  time,  we  were  taken 
into  a  "tea-hong,"  where  they  were  preparing  tea  for 
the  foreign  market — that  is,  ruining  it.  It  is  sub- 
jected to  a  degree  of  heat  as  high  as  a  man  can  bear 
his  hand  in  for  a  short  time;  for  which  purpose  it  is 
put  into  iron  vessels  over  furnaces.  While  in  this 
process  of  heating  it  is  stirred  actively  by  men's 
hands,  the  man  changing  from  one  hand  to  the  other 
at  short  intervals,  the  heat  being  too  great  to  be 
borne  long  even  by  those  accustomed  to  it.  Into 
these  vessels  a  handful  of  coloring  matter  is  cast, 


94  CHINA. 

consisting  of — what?  I  do  not  know  what  all.  Prus- 
sian blue,  we  were  told,  enters  into  the  compound,  and 
with  our  eyes  we  saw  indigo  being  pulverized  for  this 
purpose.  I  have  never  relished  tea  in  America,  and 
I  think  I  shall  never  drink  it  there  again.  Here  in 
China,  where  it  is  used  pure,  it  is  a  delightful  bever- 
age. If  I  can't  get  it  without  indigo  hereafter  I 
think  I  shall  not  take  it  at  all.  You  can  get  no  re- 
spectable Chinaman  to  drink  it  after  it  has  been  doc- 
tored for  the  foreign  market,  and  I  feel  altogether 
disposed  to  class  myself  with  intelligent  Chinamen 
on  the  tea  question — that  is,  as  to  the  tea  itself — but 
for  the  water  they  use  here  in  making  it — excuse  me. 
All  the  water  the  natives  use  in  Shanghai — and  I 
suppose  in  all  other  cities  of  the  level  parts  of  the 
country — is  taken  out  of  the  canals.  Come  with  me 
a  moment  to  the  bank  of  the  canal.  Do  you  see  the 
mouth  of  that  sewer  pouring  its  filthy  contents  into 
it?  Just  below  see  that  woman  washing  the  foulest 
vessel.  Below  her  there  is  a  man  washing  his  face 
and  hands,  the  first  time,  may  be,  for  a  week.  Below 
him,  again,  a  man  is  dropping  two  buckets  into  the 
water,  the  buckets  suspended,  one  from  each  end  of 
a  bamboo-pole.  His  buckets  filled,  he  balances  the 
pole  on  his  shoulder  and  trots  off  along  the  narrow 
streets.  Where  is  he  going?  To  some  Chinese  gen- 
tleman's house,  bearing  the  supply  of  water  for  cook- 
ing, making  tea,  drinking,  and  all  other  purposes  for 
which  water  is  used.  For  these  domestic  uses  all 
foreigners  save  the  water  from  their  roofs,  preserving 
it  in  huge  earthen  jars ;  but  the  natives,  high  and 
low,  depend  on  the  canal  for  all  purposes.  So  deli- 
cately cultivated  is  the  celestial  palate  ! 


CHINA.  95 

In  Ningpo  we  took  tiffin,  at  one  o'clock,  with  the 
Rev.  Robert  Swallow,  missionary  of  the  United 
Methodist  Free  Churches  of  England.  He  is  a 
young  man,  and  with  him  and  his  excellent  wife  we 
soent  a  most  delightful  hour.  They  are  devoted  to 
their  work,  and  happy  in  it.  What  a  delightful  spirit 
of  intelligence  and  piety  was  in  the  atmosphere  of 
this  English  home  in  the  heart  of  the  walled  city 
given  so  to  idolatry  ! 

We  called,  also,  on  Dr.  Lord,  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  who  is  also  the  American  Consul  at  Xingpo. 
We  found  him  engaged  in  consular  duties  not  of  the 
most  pleasant  character,  but  he  received  us  with  the 
cordiality  we  have  met  with  from  the  missionaries  of 
all  the  Churches.  He  has  a  Mission-school  for  girls, 
and  we  learned  one  fact  with  peculiar  satisfaction — it 
has  been  an  inflexible  rule  of  this  school  to  require 
the  girls  to  unbind  their  feet.  In  the  outset  this  was 
in  their  way — the  girls  educated  there  could  not  be 
married  because  of  the  prejudice  against  women  with 
big  feet;  but  public  opinion  has  been  so  completely 
conquered  that  the  girls  from  the  school  have  as  fair  a 
chance  for  honorable  marriage  and  settlement  as  any. 
This  is  looked  upon  by  all  the  missionaries  as  a 
wonderful  instance  of  progress. 

Having  purchased  a  few  choice  specimens  of  the 
famous  Xingpo  wood-carving,  we  repaired  to  our 
boat,  where  we  found  the  brethren  present  to  take 
leave  of  us,  and  we  parted  from  them  after  an 
acquaintance  of  a  few  hours,  with  regret,  ready  to 
say,  with  the  Japanese,  in  good  earnest,  "  sayonara  ' 
— "  since  it  must  be  so." 

What  I  have  said  about  the  filth  of  Chinese  cities, 


g6  CHINA. 

and  the  stench  that  greets  the  nostrils  almost  every- 
where, may  lead  to  the  inference  that  my  estimate  of 
the  Chinese  is  very  low  in  every  respect ;  but  this 
would  be  a  great  mistake.  In  many  respects  they 
are  a  great  people,  and  they  are  certainly  capable  of 
the  highest  development.  If  Chinese  life  can  be 
revolutionized  in  a  few  vital  points,  the  grandest 
results  must  follow.  I  shall  have  a  good  deal  to  say 
on  this  subject  hereafter. 

Returning  from  Ningpo,  we  found  ourselves  at 
home  again  in  the  charming  family  of  Brother  Lam- 
buth,  where  nearly  all  the  missionaries  met  us  in 
the  evening.  As  in  Tokio,  so  here,  they  have  a 
meeting  once  a  month,  in  which  they  take  tea  and 
worship  God  together,  and  then  discuss  some  topic 
connected  with  their  work.  The  topic  for  this  eve- 
ning was,  "  The  discouragements  and  encourage- 
ments of  the  work  in  China."  It  was  a  grand  oppor- 
tunity for  gaining  insight  into  the  real  state  of  affairs, 
and  was  worth  a  month's  observation  in  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances, The  discussion  was  perfectly  free  and 
independent,  and  evinced  just  that  agreement  in 
essential  points,  and  that  diversity  in  many  respects, 
that  was  most  refreshing-  Like  the  Conference  at 
Tokio,  it  gave  us  an  exalted  opinion  of  the  character 
and  capacity  of  the  men  in  the  field  here.  Certainly 
the  Churches  have  sent  men  of  a  high  average,  and 
God  has  put  his  seal  upon  them. 

The  Mission  has  two  Quarterly  Conferences,  one 
comprised  of  the  missionaries  and  native  helpers,  and 
the  other  of  the  missionaries  alone.  The  latter  is 
called  the  English  Conference,  for  the  reason  that  its 
minutes  are  kept  in  the  English  language.     These 


CHINA.  97 

Conferences  were  both  in  session.  The  recommend- 
ation of  the  preachers  for  orders  was  made  in  the 
English  Conference,  of  course,  and  made  regular 
matter  of  record.  The  native  Conference,  including 
all  the  six  helpers,  with  Mr.  Hendrix  and  myself, 
were  taken  together  in  photograph,  for  we  could  not 
but  feel  that  there  was  an  historic  importance  con- 
nected with  it  that  would  give  high  interest — to  7/s 
at  least — to  such  a  memorial  of  it.  The  event  is  an 
epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Church  in  China.  It  is 
felt  to  be  so  here  in  several  respects. 

1.  It  brings  them  into  conscious  and  actual  sympa- 
thy with  the  Church  at  home.  In  the  United  States, 
with  all  the  machinery  of  the  Church  in  perfect  or- 
der, and  in  the  midst  of  those  habitual  fellowships 
which  give  a  support  and  courage  that  are  so  con- 
stant as  to  escape  our  thoughts,  it  will  be  impossible 
to  realize  the  value  and  significance  of  an  official  visit 
here.  To  the  missionaries  it  is  the  assurance  of  a 
thoughtful  care  on  the  part  of  the  brethren  from 
whom  they  are  so  far  removed,  and  to  the  native 
Church  it  brings  the  fellowship  of  a  distant  people  to 
whom  the)'  owe  all  the  knowledge  of  God  the}'  have, 
into  a  form  of  expression  that  makes  it  near  and  real. 

2.  It  raises  the  organization  of  the  Church  here 
out  of  an  inchoate  condition,  and  advances  it  toward 
completeness.  Several  native  preachers  can  now 
baptize  their  own  converts,  and  some  can  administer 
the  holy  communion,  and  so  become  pastors  in  the 
fullest  sense  of  the  word.  Still  their  work  will  be 
held  under  the  constant  oversight  of  the  superintend- 
ent, whose  authority,  as  the  representative  of  the 
Church,  they  feel  to  be  supreme. 

4* 


98  CHINA. 

3.  As  a  sign  of  progress,  it  gives  the  inspiration  of 
hope,  and  this  is  a  source  of  power  that  can  scarcely 
be  overrated. 

For  myself,  I  believe  I  never  felt  the  grandeur  of 
the  kingdom  of  God  so  fully  before.  It  is  just  now 
collecting  its  energies  for  the  final  campaign  in  the 
conquest  of  the  world.  The  advance  lines  of  the  all- 
conquering  host  front  the  enemy  where  he  is  massed 
in  his  greatest  strength,  and  intrenched  in  his  most 
formidable  defenses.  The  powers  of  darkness  are 
enthroned,  but  the  God  of  light  already  advances 
upon  them,  and  they  begin  to  be  aware  of  the  glory 
of  his  approach.  No  human  destiny  can  be  greater 
than  that  of  participating  in  the  labors  and  dangers 
of  the  deepening  combat.  It  may  involve  martyr- 
dom— I  doubt  not  it  will — but  that  blood  which  is 
shed  for  Christ  is  most  precious  in  his  sight.  O  Son 
of  God  !  is  it  not  a  joy  to  die  for  thee? 


¥ 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ORDINATION  OF  THE  NATIVE  HELPERS. 

HE  great  object  of  my  visit  to  our  Missions  in 
China  was  to  ordain  the  native  helpers — such 
of  them  as  might  be  considered  worthy  of  such 
a  trust.  The  occasion  was  one  of  very  great  interest. 
The  native  preachers,  together  with  Mr.  Parker,  from 
Soochow,  were  brought  down  to  Shanghai,  and  the 
religious  services  were  opened  by  singing  one  hour, 
on  Friday  morning,  commencing  at  9  o'clock.  At 
half-past  10  there  was  a  prayer-meeting,  led  by  Dsau. 
The  business-meeting  of  the  missionaries  was  held  at 
half-past  3  p.  M.,  at  which  the  following  persons  were 
recommended  for  deacon's  orders:  Dsau,  Dzung, 
Yung  and  See;  and  Dsau  and  Dzung  were  recom- 
mended for  elder's  orders. 

In  the  evening,  at  7  o'clock,  there  was  preaching 
to  the  natives  in  the  chapel,  by  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Lam- 
buth.  The  text  was  John  xiv :  26.  It  was  an  exhor- 
tation to  seek  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  es- 
pecially in  view  of  the  solemn  service  of  ordination, 
to  which  some  of  the  preachers  were  looking.  At 
half-past  8  there  was  preaching  to  foreigners,  in  the 
Temperance  Hall,  by  the  writer — text,  John  xv:  1-8; 
subject,  life  and  fruit-bearing  in  Christ.  The  native 
congregation  was  large  and  attentive — the  foreign, 
fair  for  a  week-night. 


IOO  NATIVE    HELPERS. 

Saturday  morning  was  devoted  to  fasting,  with  a 
prayer-meeting  at  half-past  10.  In  the  afternoon  the 
native  Quarterly  Conference  was  held. 

I  counted  it  a  special  mercy  of  God  that  at  this 
time  all  the  missionaries  and  native  helpers,  in  con- 
nection with  our  Mission,  were  in  health  and  permit- 
ted to  be  present.  All  felt  the  occasion  to  be  one  of 
great  moment. 

The  programme  of  business  was  the  usual  one,  as 
follows : 

With  what  number  of  members  did  the  quarter 
end  ? 

How  many  have  been  added  during  the  quarter? 

Are  there  any  probationers? 

How  many  schools  have  you  ? 

How  many  scholars? 

How  many  scholars  in  Sunday-school  ? 

How  many  persons  do  you  preach  to  each  day? 

How  many  times  do  you  preach  each  month? 

Do  you  preach  any  on  the  street  ? 

How  many  books  have  you  sold  ? 

How  many  books  have  you  given  away? 

Do  you  visit  from  house  to  house  ? 

Have  you  collected  any  missionary-money? 

This  finished,  I  propounded  some  questions  as  to 
the  spirit  and  method  of  their  work,  and  then  made 
a  formal  address  to  them,  on  the  vital  relation  they 
sustain  to  the  work  in  China,  having  the  foundation 
to  lay  for  all  time  to  come.  I  reminded  •  them  that 
they,  the  first  laborers,  would  type  the  Church  for 
coming  ages,  and  that  the  work  would  partake  largely 
of  the  personal  character  of  the  workmen,  I  urged 
them  not  to  be  content  with  a  merely  blameless  life, 


NATIVE  HELPERS.  101 

but  to  aim  at  holiness — the  highest  blessing,  the  rich- 
est fruit  of  the  Spirit.  Mr.  Lambuth  interpreted. 
This  was  followed  by  an  address  from  Mr.  Allen,  who 
was  so  broken  down  by  his  emotions  that  it  seemed 
as  if  he  could  never  bring  his  first  sentence  to  the 
point  of  utterance.  His  words  penetrated  me  so  that 
I  felt,  as  I  had  never  before  done,  the  peculiar  trials 
of  our  brethren  here.  Here,  for  years  and  years, 
these  two  men,  Lambuth  and  Allen,  had  been  stand- 
ing together  in  this  vast  empire,  eight  thousand  miles 
removed  from  their  brethren,  the  sole  representatives 
of  their  Church  in  the  Eastern  hemisphere,  conscious 
of  an  imperfect  sympathy  at  home.  Recently  they 
had  been  re-enforced  by  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Parker, 
which  they  had  accepted  as  the  augury  of  a  larger 
movement.  And  now  the  heart  of  the  home  Church 
touched  them  in  living  fellowship  through  the  pres- 
ence of  one  of  the  Bishops  and  of  a  brother,  volun- 
tarily visiting  them.  The  fountains  of  the  great  deep 
were  broken  up. 

The  following  is  the  substance  of  Mr.  Allen's  ad- 
dress : 

"  I  have  inexpressible  pleasure  in  this  hour.  As 
Simeon  of  old  waited  for  the  promised  consolation 
of  Israel,  so  have  we  waited,  in  long  patience  and 
prayer,  for  this  event — to-wit :  the  coming  of  our 
chief  pastor,  and  the  setting  apart  of  these  native 
brethren  to  be  ordained  unto  the  ministry  of  God  in 
China.  Thank  God,  my  eyes  have  seen  it !  But 
where  are  my  predecessors  in  this  work — Jenkins, 
Taylor,  Cunnyngham,  Belton,  Kelley,  Lambuth  and 
Wood — who  also  as  earnestly  desired  and  prayed  for 
this  consummation  of  their  labors?     Gone — all  gone 


102  NATIVE  HELPERS. 

from  our  midst,  save  one — our  worthy,  and  I  had 
almost  said,  our  venerable  Superintendent. 

"  Brother  Lambuth — I  sincerely  congratulate  you 
and  your  noble,  heroic  companion,  on  the  joy  of  this 
hour.  Your  long,  faithful,  devoted,  earnest,  persever- 
ing, patient  labors  have  been  crowned  at  last.  You, 
sir,  received  me  cordially,  on  my  arrival  in  China,  and 
it  was  by  you  that  I  was  introduced  to  the  missionary 
field  and  missioniry  labors.  That  is  now  nearly 
seventeen  years  ago,  and  I  feel  it  becoming  in  me,  and 
due  to  you,  beloved  Bishop,  to  bear  for  him  this  tes- 
timony of  admiration  and  praise.  He  has  always 
been  a  zealous  missionary — preaching  constantly,  in 
season  and  out  of  season  ;  indefatigable  in  promoting 
schools  and  instructing  the  young.  The  poor  have 
ever  found  in  him  a  friend,  while  his  house  has  always 
been  open  to  the  wayfaring  missionary,  of  whatever 
Church,  nationality,  or  denomination.  But  that  is 
not  all.  Latterly,  as  Superintendent,  the  burden  of 
the  work  has  rested  heavily  upon  him.  You  have 
heard  his  reports.  The  preachers,  teachers,  and 
Bible-women,  the  schools,  congregations,  and  sta- 
tions, all  look  to  him  for  instruction  and  management ; 
books,  tracts,  and  hymns  have  to  be  prepared  and 
published.  Yet,  sir,  all  these  things  are  required  of, 
and  done  by,  one  man.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  his 
health,  which  was  never  robust,  should  quake  and 
fail  under  such  a  load  of  cares  ?  Yet,  appalling 
and  laborious  as  is  the  situation,  our  worthy  Su- 
perintendent has  never  faltered — neither  in  his  faith 
nor  in  his  labors.  What  a  lesson  to  the  Church ! 
And  I  appeal  to  you,  beloved  Bishop,  and  through 
you  to  every    Southern    Methodist  heart   in   Amer- 


NATIVE  HELPERS,  103 

ica,  to  say  whether   this   state    of  things  shall  con- 
tinue. 

"  We  are  all  here,  in  this  Conference— our  numbers 
are  few.  You  could  take  us  all  away  in  the  compass 
of  a  photograph.  But,  sir,  our  hearts  are  large,  and 
brave,  and  loyal ;  and  we  form,  as  we  trust,  the 
nucleus  of  that  greater  Conference  which  we  hope  ere 
long  to  see  assembled  to  transact  the  business  of  a 
Mission,  whose  bounds  have  been  enlarged,  and 
whose  labors  have  been  abundantly  owned  of  God  in 
the  conversion  and  salvation  of  souls. 

"  I  repeat  it — J  have  inexpressible  joy  in  this  hour, 
and  devoutly  thank  God,  beloved  Bishop,  that  he 
has  spared  you  and  your  companion,  Brother  Hen- 
drix,  to  come  to  us  in  these  ends  of  the  earth,  as  the 
messengers  of  love  and  of  God's  grace.  Your  visit 
has  cheered  and  encouraged  us,  and  this  baptism  of 
tears  is  as  the  refreshing  of  the  Lord.  Glory  be 
to  God  !  " 

At  the  close  of  this  address  Mr.  Lambuth  rose, 
and,  with  extreme  modesty  and  propriety,  gave  all 
the  praise  to  God.  Then  my  companion,  Mr.  Hen- 
drix,  unable  to  resist  the  hallowed  impulses  of  the 
hour,  found  himself  on  his  feet,  pouring  out  a  torrent 
of  tenderness  and  blessings  upon  these  representative 
men  of  the  Church  in  China.  A  pause  followed, 
which  might  be  likened  to  a  moment  of  rapturous 
silence  in  heaven — -when  one  of  the  native  helpers, 
Mr.  Yung,  rising,  stood  speechless  for  a  time,  bathed 
in  tears,  and  at  last  gave  utterance  to  two  explosive 
sentences  of  thanksgiving,  with  a  long  interval  of 
silence  between,  and  then  could  say  no  more.  Mr. 
Dsau  (C.  K.  Marshall)  followed,  speaking  in  English ; 


104  NATIVE  HELPERS. 

there  were  more  tears  than  words.  The  scene  was 
closed  by  the  long-meter  doxology,  sung  in  unison 
by  nine  voices  in  Chinese,  and  two  in  English  ;  and 
the  East  and  West  were  mingled  in  praises  to  the 
Maker  of  us  all,  while  the  volume  and  tone  of  the 
melody  were  just  like  the  triumph  of  worship  in  a 
Conference  at  home. 

This  was  a  new  experience  of  the  brethren  here. 
There  had  been  no  such  occasion  before,  in  ail  their 
history,  and  no  such  breaking  up  of  the  fountains  of 
love  and  sympathy.  Oh,  if  the  Church  at  home  could 
only  be  put  into  vital  sympathy  with  these  men,  in 
less  than  five  years  there  would  be  twenty  recruits 
in  China !  If  every  one  who  loves  the  Son  of  God 
in  truth  could,  see  what  I  have  seen  here,  the  silver 
and  gold,  which  are  the  Lord's,  would  be  cast  with 
eager  hands  into  his  treasury  for  the  salvation  of  this 
vast  Empire,  and  prayer,  agonizing  prayer,  that  the 
salvation  of  God  might  be  known  among  the  heathen, 
would  rive  the  heavens  continually.  All  the  Church 
needs  is  a  just  knowledge  of  the  facts.  Brethren, 
think!  Four  hundred  millions  of  immortal  souls 
in  China  are  perishing  in  their  ignorance.  They 
are  under  the  dominion  of  Satan.  Blood-bought 
souls,  for  whom  Christ  died,  are  led  captive  by  the 
devil  at  his  will,  and  for  their  relief  and  salvation 
three-quarters  of  a  million  of  Methodists  support 
two  missionaries  and  six  native  helpers.  Hundreds, 
perhaps  thousands,  of  men  and  women  who.  look  to 
Christ  for  salvation,  and  profess  to  love  him  above 
their  chief  good,  will  read  this  to  be  reminded  that 
they  have  done  nothing  to  spread  the  knowledge  of 
His  name  among  those  who  sit  in  darkness  and  in 


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NATIVE  HELPERS.  105 

the  shadow  of  death.  On  Saturday  night  Brother 
Yung  preached  to  a  crowded  house,  and,  I  think, 
with  good  effect. 

Sunday  was  a  high  day.  The  love-feast  was  opened 
at  9  o'clock,  and  was  an  occasion  of  much  interest. 
The  tide  of  feeling  was  not  so  high  as  in  the  Quar- 
terly Conference  already  described,  and  there  was 
a  little  hesitancy  at  times,  though  very  little  time 
was  lost,  and  the  peace  of  God  ruled  all  hearts.  At 
my  request,  Mr.  Parker  made  a  synopsis  of  the 
experience  of  sev.eral  of  the  brethren,  which  will 
give  you  an  idea  of  the  substance,  but  not  of  the 
spirit,  of  what  was  said.  The  spirit  could  not  be 
known  except  in  hearing  their  voices  and  seeing 
their  faces. 

EXPERIENCE     OF     NATIVE     CHRISTIANS      IN    THE      LOVE- 
FEAST. 

Brother  Dsau  (C.  K.  M.)  said:  "We  have  met  to- 
day, according  to  Christ's  appointment.  I  am  glad 
to  be  here.  I  feel  that  I  need  much  more  of  the  love 
of  God  and  man  in  my  heart.  I  want  to  live  nearer 
to  God  from  this  time  on.  I  will  not  say  much  now. 
I  beg  an  interest  in  your  prayers,  that  I  may  be  faith- 
ful to  the  end." 

Brother  Fong  said  :  "  Before  I  heard  the  doctrine 
of  Jesus  I  was  ignorant  and  in  the  dark  ;  but  I  am 
glad  that  I  have  learned  the  way  of  salvation.  I 
trust  in  Jesus,  and  hope  to  gain  a  home  in  heaven.  I 
hope  you,  my  brethren  and  sisters,  will  pray  for  me, 
and  help  me  to  do  the  will  of  my  Saviour." 

Brother  Yung  said  :  "  I  am  glad  to  meet  you, 
brethren  and  sisters,  in  the  love-feast.  I  am  trying 
to   serve    God ;  but  I   am  very  weak.     I  am  like  a 


I06  NATIVE  HELPERS. 

little  child  amidst  many  and  strong  enemies.  I  ask 
you  to  pray  for  me  and  assist  me,  that  in  the  dangers 
and  trials  to  which  I  may  be  exposed  hereafter,  I 
may  stand  firm  and  overcome  all  my  enemies,  and, 
with  you  all,  gain  a  home  in  heaven." 

Brother  Tsung  said:  "Before  I  heard  the  gospel  I 
did  not  know  true  happiness ;  but  since  I  believed  in 
Jesus  I  have  experienced  great  peace  and  joy  in  my 
heart.  I  love  Jesus,  and  I  know  he  loves  me  and 
will  save  me.  Trusting  in  Jesus,  I  hope  to  gain  a 
home  in  heaven.  I  hope  to  meet  you  all  there.  I 
ask  you  to  pray  for  me,  that  I  may  be  faithful." 

Brother  Dzung  said  :  "  Before  I  heard  the  doctrine 
of  Jesus  I  thought  I  was  very  wise  and  good.  I  did 
not  think  I  had  done  any  thirgvery  wrong  or  wick- 
ed ;  but  when  I  heard  th^  gospel,  and  believed  it,  I 
began  to  feel  that  I  was  a  sinner,  and  the  more  I 
heard  it  the  more  I  felt  that  I  was  a  very  great  sin- 
ner. But  I  trusted  in  Jesus,  and  obtained  the  pardon 
of  all  my  sins.  I  trust  in  the  grace  of  Jesus,  and 
want  to  do  his  will.  I  ask  an  interest  in  your  prayers, 
that  God  will  help  me  to  do  his  will." 

The  old  sexton  said  :  "  I  am  weak,  very  weak ; 
but  I  trust  in  Jesus,  and  by  the  grace  of  God  I  am 
what  I  am." 

An  old  Bible-woman  said :  "  I  have  been  trusting 
in  Jesus  for  many  years.  I  know  that  he  loves  me. 
Before  I  heard  the  gospel  I  worshiped  many  idols 
and  false  gods  ;  but  I  am  glad  that  I  have  learned  to 
worship  the  true  God,  and  to  trust  in  my  Saviour, 
Jesus  Christ,  I  pray  every  clay  that  the  Heavenly 
Father  ^o-iki  bless  his  ^huFch,  and  add  manv  ro  it, 
r,nd    make*    H   \cw   prosperous       \  h^p..   von    *vill   •  :: 


NATIVE  HELPERS.  \0J 

pray  for  me,  that  I  may  have  the  presence  and  grace 
of  God,  and  that  I  may  at  last  gain  a  home  in 
Heaven." 

Several  others  spoke,  and  gave  experiences  sim- 
ilar to  the  above. 

At  half-past  ten  the  sermon  was  preached  by  the 
Rev.  Young  J.  Allen — text,  John  xxi:  15-17.  It  was 
an  earnest  discourse,  delivered  to  a  crowded  house, 
and  was  heard  with  interest.  At  the  close  of  the 
sermon,  Mr.  Lambuth  called  Dsau  Tse  Yeh,  Dzung 
Yoong  Chung,  Yung  King  San,  and  See  Tse  Kia, 
forward  to  the  altar,  and  presented  them  to  be  or- 
dained deacons  in  the  Church  of  God.  In  the  after- 
noon the  first  two  named  were  also  ordained  elders. 
This  new  and  solemn  service  produced  a  profound 
impression  on  the  native  Church.  I  never  witnessed 
a  more  solemn  awe  upon  an  assembly. 

I  have  great  hope  of  these  men.  The  first-named, 
Dsau,  accompanied  Mr.  Lambuth  to  America  in 
1862,  and  was  in  the  family  of  Dr.  Kelley  for  several 
years.  To  Mrs.  Kelley,  the  mother  of  the  Doctor, 
he  says  he  owes  his  salvation,  under  God.  He  was 
baptized  by  our  ascended  Bishop  Andrew.  About 
1870,  he  returned  to  China,  and  soon  entered  upon 
the  great  work  of  his  life.  He  is  now  thirty-one 
years  old,  in  good  health,  and,  so  far  as  we  can  judge, 
promises  to  be  a  very  useful  man. 

Dzung  Yoong  Chung  was  baptized  by  Mr.  Lam- 
buth in  1870,  and  was  employed  for  about  a  year  as 
sexton  and  colporteur  at  Xaziang,  after  which,  as 
our  Mission  was  straitened  for  means,  he  was  lent  to 
the  Presbyterians  for  several  years.  With  them  he 
did  good  service,  and  so  soon  as  we  were  in  circum- 


108  NATIVE  HELPERS. 

stances  to  employ  him  he  came  back  to  us  an  intelli- 
gent Christian  and  well-trained  preacher,  but  with  a 
shattered  voice,  and  I  fear,  an  impaired  constitution. 
His  sermon  on  Christmas-day  was  spoken  of  by  those 
who  understood  it  as  one  of  great  merit.  His  wife 
is  in  charge  of  a  school,  and  is  intelligent,  active, 
and  full  of  zeal — a  most  useful  little  woman. 

Yung  King  San  is  forty-three  years  old,  was  bap- 
tized by  Mr.  Lambuth  in  1857,  and  has  been  preach- 
ing about  five  years.  He  is  by  trade  a  carpenter. 
His  education  is  limited,  but  since  his  conversion  he 
has  been  a  diligent  student  of  the  word  of  God. 
He  is  a  man  of  profound  experience  and  of  most 
stable  and  blameless  life,  and  his  preaching  is  very 
acceptable.     The  missionaries  trust  him  implicitly. 

See  Tse  Kia  was  trained  in  the  Presbyterian 
school  at  Hang  Chow,  where  he  was  converted  and 
baptized.  He  comes  to  us  highly  recommended  for 
depth  and  stability  of  character,  and  though  he  is 
not  specially  brilliant,  yet  he  has  the  good  sense  and 
piety  to  make  him  a  very  valuable  man.  His  name, 
which  we  write  See  in  English,  is  really  pronounced 
without  any  vowel  sound.  Write  Szzz — s  and  three 
z's — and  then  exercise  your  powers  of  articulation 
upon  it. 

At  six  o'clock  on  Sunday  night,  I  preached  to  the 
foreign  congregation  at  the  Union  Church,  and  had 
the  largest  congregation  I  have  met  in  Shanghai. 
At  eight  o'clock  \vq  were  in  the  chapel  again  and 
heard  Dsau.  The  congregation  was  large,  and  more 
than  usually  attentive. 

Thus  closed  one  of  the  richest  Sundays  I  have 
ever  enjoyed.     The  Mission  premises  had  the  aspect 


NATIVE  HELPERS.  IO9 

of  a  hallowed  place,  under  the  rich  glow  of  the  Sun- 
day sunlight.  But,  alas !  no  sooner  did  I  pass  out  of 
the  gate  and  cross  the  "  tsun-ka-mook-ja,"  on  my 
way  to  the  Union  Church,  than  I  found  myself  in  the 
midst  of  the  crowd  and  rush  of  business  and  pleasure, 
and  the  Sunday  was  chopped  off  at  a  stroke.  What 
an  oasis  in  a  Sabbathless  desert  in  this  little  enclosure 
which  contains  the  Mission  buildings! 

Christmas-day — Monday — dawned  bright  upon  us, 
and  the  services  connected  with  the  occasion  were 
closed  by  a  sermon  from  Dzung.  The  text  was  in 
the  Prophecy  of  Micah.  The  sermon,  I  am  told, 
gave  a  very  intelligent  account  of  the  prophetic 
office,  a  rapid  and  accurate  survey  of  the  history  of 
Micah,  some  remarkably  succinct  and  correct 
geographical  descriptions,  and  then  enlarged  upon 
the  coming  and  work  of  Christ.  There  was  a  quiet 
fervor  that  fixed  the  attention  of  all  who  understood 
the  language,  and  even  on  us  who  occupied  the  seat 
of  the  unlearned,  there  was  the  sense  of  a  gracious 
presence — the  overshadowing  of  the  Spirit  of  God, 


CHAPTER  X. 

BY  CANAL  TO  SOOCHOW  AND  HANG  CHOW. 

JUST  BEFORE  nightfall,  December26,we  went  on 
board  of  our  fleet  of  canal  boats,  for  a  trip  to 
Soochow,  the  place  where  Mr.  Parker  is  station- 
ed, intending  also  to  visit  our  principal  out-stations 
on  the  way.     The  fleet  consisted  of  three  boats,  one 
of  which   is  the   property  of  our  Mission,    one   the 
private  property  of  Mr.  Lambuth.  and  the  third  lent 
us  for  the  occasion  by  the  Rev.   Mr.  Fitch,  of  the 
Presbyterian  Mission  at  Soochow.     These  boats  are 
all    constructed  upon   the  same  general  model,  but 
with  many  differences  of  detail.      I  will  describe  the 
one  which  belongs  to  the  Mission,  and  that  will  give 
an  idea  of  them  all.     The  boat  is  about  thirty  feet 
in  length,  and  nine  feet  wide,  including  the  poles  that 
lie  along  on  the  outside  of  the  upper   part    of  the 
hull,  making  a  sort  of  rim.     On  this  boat  a  cabin  is 
constructed,  which  is  eighteen  feet   long,  and   seven 
feet  wide  at  the  widest  part.     There  is   a  partition  in 
the  middle,  dividing  the  cabin  into  two  rooms  of  nine 
feet  in  length,  the   ceiling   being  six    feet  high.     In 
each  of  these  rooms  there  is  a  platform  on  one  side 
for  a  bed,  to  accommodate   one   person.     In   one  of 
them  there  is  also  a  cot,  placed  for  this  voyage,  to 
accommodate  an    extra    passenger,    thus    furnishing 
sleeping  accommodations  for  three.     In  one  corner 


CANAL  TRIP.  I  I  I 

there  is  a  diminutive  stove,  with  two  lids  on  the  top, 
like  a  cooking-stove,  so  that  it  serves  very  well  for 
cooking  a  simple  meal.  The  other  two  boats  have 
real  cooking-stoves.  These  boats  are  propelled  by 
the  scull,  or  by  towing,  alternating  from  one  to  the 
other.  When  the  wind  is  favorable  they  hoist  a  sail, 
and  then,  with  sail  and  scull,  they  go  bravely,  espe- 
cially if  the  tide  is  favorable ;  for  the  tide  extends 
inland  some  twenty-five  miles  from  Shanghai,  and  in 
the  smaller  canals  boats  the  size  of  ours  can  move 
only  when  the  tide  is  in. 

Our  companv  consisted  of  Air.  and  Mrs.  Lambuth, 
and  their  son  Willie,  Mr.  Allen  and  his  son  Edgar, 
Mr.  Parker,  Mr.  Hendrix,  and  myself  and  Air.  Dsau. 
Parker,  Hendrix,  and  myself,  were  on  the  Mission 
boat.  We  have  no  cooking  done  for  ourselves.  There 
is  a  place  aft,  where  our  coolies  sleep,  and  have  a 
Chinese  cooking-furnace  for  their  own  provisions — a 
very  simple  affair. 

About  7  o'clock  we  were  called  on  board  of  'Sir. 
Lambuth's  boat  for  supper,  and  there,  behold  a  table 
all  set  out  with  elegant  dishes,  produced  from  the 
snuggest  of  little  cupbords,  and  as  the  meal  proceed- 
ed a  little  pantry-door  opens,  and  behold  the  cream, 
and  milk,  and  sugar,  and  things  ! — a  succession  of 
surprises  for  raw  Americans  like  H.  and  myself. 
There  we  were,  seated  in  small  compass  to  be  sure  ; 
but  there  were  five  of  us  at  the  table,  amply  pro- 
vided, and  then  a  little  on  one  side  were  Willie  and 
Dsau,  The  cosy  and  comfortable  meal  ended,  the 
Bible  was  produced,  and  n  sang-book  for  each.  How 
we  enjoyed  fchq  worship  of  God  togothe?  In  thesj 
new  circumstances  ! 


I  12  CANAL  TRIP. 

About  9  o'clock  we  went  on  board  of  our  own 
boat,  which  came  alongside  for  that  purpose,  and 
soon  retired;  for  what  with  business,  and  public 
services,  and  sight-seeing,  with  which  we  had  been 
incessantly  occupied  ever  since  we  landed  at  Shang- 
hai, to  say  nothing  of  writing,  we  really  felt  the  need 
of  a  good  night's  rest — and  we  got  it.  Our  narrow 
beds  were  abundantly  supplied  with  covering,  and, 
for  one,  I,  at  least,  slept  through  nine  hours  solid. 

The  weather,  which  had  been  cloudy  and  unpleas- 
ant during  the  greater  part  of  our  stay  in  Shanghai, 
cleared  up  beautifully,  as  if  to  give  us  the  best  pos- 
sible conditions  of  travel  and  enjoyment.  Our  first 
morning  was  glorious.  The  dead  grass  was  white 
with  frost,  the  air  was  crisp  and  bracing,  and  the  sun 
flooded  the  landscape.  After  breakfast  and.  prayers 
on  Mr.  Lambuth's  boat,  we  stepped  on^the  bank,  and 
indulged  in  one  of  the  most  delightful  walks  of  two 
or  three  miles  that  mortals  ever  enjoyed.  Wheat- 
fields,  patches  of  turnips,  cabbages,  and  other  vege- 
tables, and  fields  of  cotton-stalks,  spread  abroad  in 
every  direction,  on  a  dead  level,  as  far  as  the  eye  can 
reach,  with  here  and  there  a  grove  of  bamboo  dotting 
the  landscape,  and  marking  the  sites  of  the  villages  ; 
for  the  farmers  all  live  in  villages.  You  see  no  farm- 
house on  the  farm,  as  with  us. 

The  end  of  our  walk  brought  us  to  the.  celebrated 
Wongdoo  bridge,  to  which  point  our  boats  had  pre- 
ceded us.  After  a  few  minutes  of  silent  prayer  in 
the  boats,  we  proceeded  to  the  chapel,  where  both 
Brothers  Lambuth  and  Allen  delivered  short  ser- 
mons, or  exhortations,  and  then  sold  several  tracts, 


CANAL  TRIP.  113 

and  gave  away  some  sheets,  and  had,  in  the  main,  a 
pleasant  hour. 

As  we  approached  the  town  we  saw  the  soldiers, 
perhaps  fifteen  hundred  in  number,  out  on  drill. 
Their  evolutions  were  accompanied  by  music  of 
rather  a  stirring  sort.  They  were  too  far  away  to 
enable  us  to  judge  of  them  ;  but  as  they  marched 
into  their  quarters  they  came  near  to  us,  and  we  saw 
that,  though  the  order  was  not  broken  up,  yet  the 
lines  were  extremely  irregular.  The  uniform  was  of 
a  dark  ground,  with  broad  trimming  of  bright  colors, 
mostly  red.  The  single  uniform  did  not  strike  me  as 
being  well-designed  ;  but  the  appearance  was  strik- 
ing as  you  saw  a  thousand  men  marching  together. 
Most  of  them  were  armed  with  muskets ;  but  one 
company  had  spears,  the  heads  fixed  in  bamboo- 
poles.  Behind  them,  as  they  marched  into  their 
quarters,  came  four  coolies,  bearing  the  great  drum 
on  two  poles. 

At  this  place — Wongdoo — we  have  only  a  rented 
chapel,  where  our  Brother  Fong  preaches  once  a 
week,  his  principal  point  being  Xaziang,  eight  miles 
distant.  He  met  us  here  at  the  chapel.  We  had 
seen  him  before  at  Shanghai,  and  although  it  was  not 
thought  well  to  confer  orders  on  him,  yet  I  had 
formed  a  high  opinion  of  him  as  a  sensible  and  thor- 
oughly good  man. 

From  Wongdoo  we  proceeded  to  Naziang,  a  dis- 
tance of  not  more  than  eight  miles  by  land,  but,  I 
suppose,  at  least  twice  as  much  by  the  canal,  the  last 
half  of  the  distance  being  by  a  small  cross  canal, 
in  which  boats  the  size  of  ours  require  the  advantage 
of  the  tide,  which  now  at  best  was  but  a  neap-tide, 


114  CANAL  TRIP. 

and  was  beginning  to  fall  at  that.  So  our  men  had 
a  hard  time  of  it,  and  we  walked  a  good  part  of  the 
way.  We  passed  through  several  of  the  farming- 
villages,  and  found  that  while  at  a  little  distance  the 
houses  looked  rather  picturesque,  a  near  view  re- 
vealed a  very  miserable  sort  of  life.  The  houses 
are,  most  of  them,  built  of  brick,  of  only  one  thick- 
ness, laid  in  a  frame  of  wood,  and  covered  with  tile. 
They  have  no  floor  but  the  naked  earth,  no  furniture, 
no  cleanliness — nothing,  absolutely  nothing,  that 
looks  cheerful  or  home-like.  Baskets  containing 
rice,  and  all  sorts  of  things  that  may  happen  to  need 
shelter,  are  scattered  about  in  the  utmost  confusion. 
The  people  are  not  cleanly  in  their  persons ;  many  of 
them  are  in  rags,  and  things  generally  have  a  most 
squalid  look.  The  stacks  of  straw  are  in  front  of 
their  houses,  and  what  few  domestic  animals  they 
have  are  tied  in  the  same  place. 

These  canals  are  spanned  with  numerous  bridges, 
which  are  all  of  stone,  and  the  larger  ones  arched. 
The  arch,  on  the  under  side,  as  it  springs  from 
pier  to  pier,  often  shows  a  beautiful  arc,  while  the 
upper  side  comes  up  to  a  ridge  like  the  roof  of  a 
house ;  for,  be  it  known,  that  these  bridges,  though 
strong  and  massive  enough  to  support  a  train  of  cars, 
were  built  only  for  pedestrians,  and  are  rarely  crossed 
even  by  a  horse,  never  by  any  sort  of  vehicle. 

We  were  an  hour  or  two  in  advance  of  our  boats 
at  Naziang,  and  entered  the  town  on  foot,  reaching 
the  residence  of  Brother  Fong  at  sunset,  In  connec- 
tion with  this  parsonage,  and  part  of  the  same  build- 
ing, is  the  girls*-scbool,  In  front  of  it  there  is  a 
pleasant    little    vnrd.    fenrecj   with   wattled    bamho 


CANAL  TRIP.  115 

An  inclosure  in  connection  with  a  house  in  China  is 
a  rare  thing.  As  we  entered  the  gate,  I  heard  a 
boy's  voice  behind  me,  saying,  "  Ha-la-va,  ka-toh, 
se-sang" — How  do  you  do,  Mr.  Bishop?  or,  How 
do  you  do,  bishop-teacher?  Looking  round,  I  saw  a 
very  bright-looking  and  neatly-dressed  boy,  whose 
face  was  fairly  beaming  with  pleasure.  He  was  the 
son  of  the  teacher  of  the  boys'-school  here,  is  nine  or 
ten  years  old,  and  on  probation  for  membership  in 
the  Church.  His  father  had  been  at  Shanghai  at  our 
meeting,  and  had  been  profoundly  impressed.  He 
had  returned  home  the  day  before  our  arrival,  and 
the  son  had  been  on  the  lookout  for  the  ka-toh,  with 
breathless  expectation.  Seeing  me  with  Air.  Lam- 
buth,  he  knew  who  I  was.  Fong  had  also  preceded 
us,  coming  on  foot  across  the  country  from  Woosung. 
He  received  us  with  joy,  and  we  were  soon  shown 
through  the  premises.  The  boats  arrived  about  6 
o'clock,  and  we  had  dinner  over  in  time  for  preach- 
ing in  the  chapel  at  8,  by  Brother  Dsau.  The  con- 
gregation was  rather  turbulent ;  but  there  were  sev- 
eral who  listened  with  apparent  interest.  In  the 
morning  we  visited  both  the  schools,  there  being  two 
at  Naziang — one  for  boys  and  one  for  girls.  Both 
the  teachers  are  Christian  men,  though  they  are  not 
preachers.  The  teacher  of  the  boys'-school  has  been 
in  the  Church  only  nine  months,  but  seems  to  be 
soundly  converted,  and  to  be  coming  to  a  very  ad- 
vanced '  stage  both  of  knowledge  and  experience. 
He  is  a  man  of  excellent  sense  and  a  good  deal  of 
personal  force.  He  is  full  of  zeal,  and  promises  great 
usefulness.  In  the  boys'-school  there  are  eighteen 
pupils,  and  several  of  them  are  in  the  habit  of  secret 


Il6  CANAL  TRIP. 

prayer.  The  teacher  has  great  hope  of  several  of 
them.  I  noticed  one  of  them,  that  is  going  to  make 
a  very  superior  man,  and,  I  hope,  a  preacher.  I 
could  not  restrain  prayer  in  his  behalf. 

In  the  girls'-school  there  are  eight,  and  two  more, 
promised.  This  school  has  been  very  recently  open- 
ed, and  is  filling  up  as  fast  as  was  expected.  It  will, 
no  doubt,  soon  have  as  many  pupils  as  there  is  room 
for.  I  was  delighted  to  find  these  premises  so  neat 
and  well-kept. 

While  we  were  here  the  brethren  were  overflow- 
ing with  love.  They  gave  us  tea  and  nuts,  and 
observing  that  H.  was  shivering  with  cold,  proposed 
to  get  a  fur  vest  for  him. 

Our  Sister  Fong  is  a  notable  housewife,  and  carries 
on  all  sorts  of  domestic  employment,  being  adept  in 
spinning  and  weaving.  We  saw  her  at  both  these 
employments,  and  at  the  wheel  she  performed  a  feat 
not  uncommon  in  China,  but  which  seemed  impossi- 
ble to  us.  She  turned  the  wheel,  by  a  most  simple 
contrivance,  with  her  feet,  using  both  of  them — being 
in  a  sitting  posture — and  spun  three  threads  at  once, 
the  wheel  running  three  spindles. 

All  the  goods  worn  by  the  common  people  are 
spun  and  woven  at  home — not  only  so,  but  generally 
also  from  cotton  raised,  gathered,  ginned — I  cannot 
say  carded,  for  they  have  no  cards,  but  made  into 
rolls,  spun,  and  woven  by  the  same  family.  In  trav- 
eling through  the  country,  you  will  everywhere  see 
pieces  of  thread  in  warp.  This  is  done  not  as  our 
mothers  used  to  do  it,  on  pegs  in  a  frame,  but 
stretched  at  full  length,  out  in  the  highways  or 
fields. 


CANAL  TRIP.  117 

We  have  two  good  lots  in  Naziang,  on  one  of 
which  the  chapel  and  boys'-school  stand,  and  on  the 
other  the  girls'-school  and  native  parsonage. 

Upon  the  whole,  we  returned  to  our  boats,  and 
took  our  leave  of  Naziang,  well-pleased  with  our 
visit.  But  before  we  left  we  went  to  see  the  laughing 
Buddha.  It  is  a  colossal  image,  fat  and  jolly-look- 
ing, with  the  mouth  spread  as  if  in  hearty  laughter; 
but  the  jolly  old  god  is  a  good  deal  dilapidated.  His 
extremities  are  crumbling,  and  the  end  of  the  walk- 
ing-stick of  one  of  our  company,  in  contact  with 
his  big  toe,  hastened  the  process.  The  old  fellow's 
temple  is  as  ruinous  as  he,  a  large  part  of  the  roof 
having  already  fallen  in,  and  the  rest  seeming  just 
ready  to  tumble,  while  a  number  of  attendant  gods 
and  goddesses  are  in  a  most  woful  plight.  But  his 
godship  laughs  away  as  if  nothing  was  going  on — a 
most  insensible  deity,  one  would  say.  He  is  as 
heartless  as  Nero,  who  laughed  and  riddled — or 
fiddled,  at  least — while  Rome  was  burning. 

It  was  after  10  o'clock  when  we  left  Naziang,  and, 
with  both  wind  and  tide  favorable,  we  reached  Kar- 
ding  about  1.  This  is  the  principal  appointment  of 
our  native  Brother  Tsung.  We  have  only  a  rented 
house  here.  The  preacher  and  his  family  live  up 
stairs  over  the  story  that  is  used  for  a  chapel.  Here 
we  had  a  crowd,  who  were  brought  together  by  seeing 
the  foreigners  on  the  streets.  Tsung  preached  a  short 
discourse  and  was  followed  by  Mr.  Allen.  We  then 
visited  the  boys'-school  near  by.  There  are,  I  be- 
lieve, about  a  dozen  pupils.  The  teacher  is  not  a 
member  of  the  Church,  but  shows  a  serious  interest 
in  the  Scriptures.     But  Tsung  gives  the  boys  religious 


Il8  CANAL  TRIP. 

instruction,  and  several  of  them  show  signs  of  the 
work  of  grace  in  their  lives. 

Three  different  pieces  of  property  are  offered  us 
on  good  terms,  and  we  ought  by  all  means  to  have  a 
chapel  here,  and  both  a  boys'  and  girls'  school. 

Passing  along  the  streets,  we  heard  sounds  on  the 
right  which  were  semi-musical,  and  through  a  narrow 
opening  we  saw  candles  burning,  and  turned  aside  to 
see  what  it  might  mean.  Mr.  Allen,  who  is  an  inval- 
uable cicerone,  soon  saw  that  it  was  in  a  Tauist  tem- 
ple, and  that  the  ceremonies  going  on  were  for  the 
release  of  a  soul  from  purgatory — for  the  Tauists,  as 
well  as  the  Buddhists  and  Romanists,  have  their  pur- 
gatory, which  yields  a  good  revenue.  In  the  hands 
of  skillful  priests,  there  is  no  better  paying  institution. 
Upon  a  little  inquiry,  we  learned  that  the  man  for 
whose  benefit  these  ceremonies  were  performed  had 
been  dead  about  six  months ;  that  his  children  had 
employed  the  priests  to  get  him  out  of  purgatory; 
that  he  had  been  out  for  three  days,  but  that  after 
his  release  from  the  lower  regions,  it  required  a  fur- 
ther lift  to  get  him  up  through  the  intervening  spaces 
into  paradise.  This  was  what  they  were  at  now. 
The  temple  was  gorgeously  decorated  with  images, 
tablets  and  gilt  hangings.  One  priest  stood  in  an 
inner  recess,  and  two  others,  with  a  servitor,  were  out 
in  the  largei  space  in  front,  the  whole  being  confined 
to  rather  a  small  area,  the  temple  not  being  a  large 
one.  Off  on  one  side  were  some  three  others,  one 
beating  on  a  sort  of  bell,  another  on  a  metallic  plate, 
which  gave  rather  a  short,  dull  sound,  and  the  third 
playing  on  a  flute.  Occasionally  a  few  sentences 
were  intoned  responsively.     The  robes  of  the  priests 


CANAL  TRIP.  I  19 

were  very  gorgeous ;  that  of  the  one  who  seemed  to 
be  playing  the  chief  part  was  of  bright  red  ground, 
with  a  blue  border,  three  or  four  inches  wide,  around 
the  bottom  of  it,  which  extended  down  to  the  feet, 
and  faced  down  the  front,  on  each  side,  with  white. 
On  the  red  ground  at  the  center  of  the  back,  or  a  lit- 
tle above  the  center,  was  the  gilt  figure  of  a  pagoda, 
and  scattered  profusely  over  it  were  gilt  spangles 
and  dragons.  He  and  another  priest  were  generally 
vis-a-vis  with  each  other,  and  often  changed  places 
as  if  they  were  dancing;  indeed,  thev  came  to- 
gether  quite  actively  at  times.  One  of  them  held 
in  his  hand  a  piece  of  wood,  about  six  inches  long, 
and  an  inch  and  a  half  square,  hung  about  with 
pieces  of  paper  covered  with  writing,  on  which  his 
eyes  were  intently  fixed.  His  vis-a-vis  retired 
after  a  time,  smoked  his  pipe  for  a  few  moments, 
and  then  seated  himself  with  a  flute,  and  helped 
the  music.  The  principal  actor  continued  gazing 
on  his  strips  of  paper,  and  posturing  about  on  a 
piece  of  coarse  cloth,  which  had  a  few  mysterious 
characters  on  it,  in  a  certain  relation  to  which  he 
seemed  to  place  himself  at  every  change  of  position, 
now  and  then  bowing  himself  quite  down  to  the 
earth,  and  touching  his  paper-covered  wand  with  his 
forehead ;  and  so  the  performance  was  still  going  on 
when  we  left. 

During  the  whole  scene,  spectators  came  and  went 
at  pleasure,  some  even  passing  between  the  officiat- 
ing priests,  while  children  romped  around  unchecked. 
One  man,  who  stood  within  four  feet  of  the  chief 
priest,  gave  Mr.  Allen  the  history  of  the  case  in  a 
>-f'ry    loud    yoirr,  while    ^ome    of  the   priests   looked 


120  CANAL  TRIP. 

around  curiously  at  the  foreigners.  I  should  have 
been  filled  with  disgust  at  the  nonsense  of  the  whole 
affair  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  horror  I  felt,  that  the 
great  enemy  of  God  and  man  should  have  acquired 
such  control  of  countless  millions  of  our  race,  and 
that  by  means  even  of  their  religious  instincts.  How 
readily  they  spend  their  money  under  his  inspira- 
tions, and  how  eagerly  they  accept  the  silliest  theat- 
ricals by  which  he,  through  his  priests,  pretends  to 
manage  their  eternal  destinies  !  What  slaves  of 
superstition  they  are !  and  from  this  fearful  bondage 
nothing  can  ever  free  them  but  the  gospel  of  the 
grace  of  God. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when  we  took  boat 
again,  and  we  saw  nothing  more  during  the  afternoon 
except  the  villages  along  the  banks  of  the  canal,  and 
one  c-f  these  villages  is  like  all  the  rest.  After  supper, 
and  the  worship  of  God,  we  tied  up  near  a  village  for 
the  night,  and  I  came  over  into  the  boat  in  which  we 
slept  to  spend  an  hour  or  two  in  writing.  Soon  my 
companions  were  in  bed,  and  I  felt  a  hallowed  sense 
of  the  presence  of  God  as  I  was  writing.  Here,  at 
least,  in  our  three  boats,  was  a  Christian  atmosphere, 
in  the  midst  of  a  vast  region  where  Christ  is  not 
known.  I  felt  how  inadequate  a  representation  of 
my  own  Church,  for  the  work  of  evangelizing  China, 
was  contained  in  these  three  little  boats,  but  faith 
triumphed  in  visions  of  the  near  future,  when  every 
man,  woman  and  child  in  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
should  be  filled  with  holy  ardor,  and  every  Confer- 
ence emulous  to  excel  in  the  work.  May  God  hasten 
the  day,  even  in  my  time  I 

By  five  o'clock  on   Friday  morning  we  were  under 


CANAL  TRIP.  121 

headway  again.  Breakfast  over,  and  earnest  prayer 
having  been  made  for  the  blessing  of  God  on  our 
work,  we  found  ourselves  passing  through  a  consid- 
erable village,  from  the  rubbish  of  which  the  channel 
had  been  so  filled  up  that  all  our  men  from  the  three 
boats  had  to  join  in  shoving  them  over,  one  after 
the  other.  This  wonderful  system  of  arti-ncial  water- 
ways, constructed  centuries  ago  by  a  wise  govern- 
ment and  a  public-spirited  people,  has  now  for  ages 
been  left  in  perfect  neglect,  and  where  a  channel 
becomes  choked  so  as  to  obstruct  commerce  and 
travel,  though  labor  is  so  cheap  that  a  few  hundred 
dollars  would  put  it  in  good  order,  nothing  is  ever 
done.  The  present  government  seems  to  care  noth- 
ing for  the  people.  They  are  for  nothing  but  to  be 
taxed,  and  there  is  not  statesmanship  sufficient  to  see 
that  an  administration  looking  to  an  active  internal 
commerce  and  the  promoting  of  the  prosperity  of 
the  people  would  also  increase  the  revenue. 

We  left  the  boats  struggling  through  this  shallow 
place  ;  passed  through  the  village  on  foot,  passing  by 
the  houses  and  straw-stacks ;  saw  the  domestic 
water-buffalo,  with  his  queer  retreating  horns,  tied  to 
a  stake  and  taking  his  repose ;  entered  a  little  barn 
where  men  were  hulling  rice  by  a  primitive  sort  of 
machinery,  run  by  the  inevitable  buffalo  ;  met  some 
dozens  of  cowardly  dogs — they  all  bark  furiously  as 
you  approach,  but  slink  away  in  a  sneaking  manner 
as  you  come  near  to  them — crossed  a  bridge  made  of 
stone  slabs,  at  least  twenty  feet  long,  one  end  resting 
on  each  abutment;  and,  at  the  end  of  a  delightful 
walk  of  a  mile,  perhaps,  found  ourselves  on  the  margin  - 


122  CANAL  TRIP. 

of  the  large  canal  leading  direct  to  Soochow,  where 
we  waited  for  our  fleet. 

These  stone  slab  bridges  are  something  unique 
and  remarkable.  We  saw  similar  ones  in  Japan,  but 
nothing  like  so  long.  I  have  not  measured  them, 
but  I  am  sure  I  have  seen  some  that  were  twenty- 
five  feet  long.  Abutments  are  built  on  each  side  of 
a  ditch  or  narrow  canal,  and  two  or  three  of  these 
long  slabs,  eighteen  inches  wide,  and  ten  thick,  are 
laid  across  the  chasm.  I  doubt  if  any  stone  in 
America  could  be  trusted  to  bear  its  own  weight  in 
the  same  circumstances. 

Once  on  the  large  canal,  we  hoisted  sail,  and, 
making  fine  headway,  soon  reached  the  walled  city 
of  Kwung  Shan.  After  especial  prayer,  we  entered 
the  city  with  copies  of  the  Gospels  and  tracts,  and 
sent  our  boats  around  to  the  west  gate,  where  we 
would  join  them.  Mrs.  L.  remaining  in  the  boat 
with  the  boys,  Mr.  L.  went  through  the  most  popu- 
lous part  of  the  city  selling  books  and  talking  to  the 
people,  so  far  as  his  great  hoarseness  would  allow, 
while  the  rest  of  us  made  a  detour,  and  ascended  the 
Kwung  Shan,  an  elevation  of  about  four  hundred 
feet,  I  should  think,  within  the  walls  of  the  city.  It 
is  a  singular,  solitary  mound  of  granite  in  the  midst 
of  this  vast  alluvial  region.  The  summit  is  crowned 
with  a  pagoda.  From  this  point  we  saw  over  the 
whole  city,  which  is  not  so  populous  as  formerly, 
and  presents  rather  a  poor  appearance.  In  a  small 
cave  in  the  rocks  we  saw  several  stone  idols,  all 
mutilated  by  the  "  rebels,"  all  headless  but  one,  and 
that  one  with  half  the  face  broken  off.  After  the 
war,  some  devout  man  had  collected  them,  placed 


CANAL  TRIP.  123 

them  in  this  nook,  and  protected  them  by  a  strong 
colonnade  of  stone.  Mr.  H.  suggested  that  since  his 
gods  could  not  take  care  of  him,  he  had  generously 
endeavored  to  take  care  of  them.  Poor  headless 
things — what  a  commentary  on  an  idolatrous 
religion  ! 

The  whole  summit  is  covered  with  the  deb / is  of 
demolished  or  decayed  temples. 

As  we  descended  the  precipitous  western  slope, 
we  came  upon  another  laughing  Buddha,  carved  in 
stone.  The  figure  is  very  rotund,  as  if  full  of  rice,  a 
Chinaman's  ideal  of  comfort,  and  the  mouth  is  fairly 
stretched  with  laughter.  But  he,  too,  is  going  to 
decay.  His  lips  are  largely  worn  away,  as  is  the  end 
of  his  nose,  though  he  is  a  granite  god.  But  never  a 
bit  does  he  seem  to  care,  and  liis  mouth  is  forever 
set  for  a  b-g  guffaw,  even  as  he  goes  to  destruction. 
H.  could  not  forbear  from  thrusting  the  end  of 
his  bamboo  cane  into  the  gaping  mouth  of  the 
rollicking,  though  decaying  divinity,  and  so  hasten- 
ing, by  a  little,  the  process  of  disintegration. 

Starting  out  again  we  soon  met  two  boats,  with 
about  a  dozen  cormorants  perched  on  projecting 
poles  on  each  side.  These  birds  are  trained  for  fish- 
ing, as  hawks  were  for  fowling,  formerly,  in  Europe. 
A  ring  is  placed  on  the  neck  of  each,  which  prevents 
him  from  swallowing  a  fish  of  any  size.  I  am  told 
they  do  their  work  very  intelligently  and  efficiently. 
They  dive  and  swim  under  the  water  with  great 
rapidity.  They  also  seem  to  understand  their 
masters  perfectly,  and  bring  in  the  fish  with  great 
d  cility  when  they  find  they  can't  swallow  it.  They 
are  a  disgusting,  buzzard-like  looking  bird. 


124  CANAL  TRIP. 

On  Saturday,  at  noon,  we  reached  Soochow, 
having  traveled  eighty  miles  from  Shanghai ;  indeed, 
the  distance  is  greater  by  the  route  we  came.  Here 
we  were  received  into  the  houses  of  our  brethren  of 
the  Presbyterian  Churches,  North  and  South,  with 
the  most  cordial  hospitality.  Mr.  Parker  being  a 
bachelor,  and  having  been  now  so  long  from  home, 
was  not  in  trim  for  entertaining  guests   at  his  house. 

In  this  great  city  we  have  two  chapels  and  a 
school,  and  are  preparing  room  for  a  day  school 
besides.  In  connection  with  one  of  the  chapels  is 
the  residence  of  Dsau,  and  the  boarding  department 
of  the  boys  of  the  school.  The  property  is  well 
adapted  to  its  uses,  and  we  found  every  thing  neatly 
kept. 

On  Sunday  morning  we  visited  the  Sunday-school, 
which  is  composed  entirely  of  the  boys  of  the  board- 
ing-school. They  are  fine-looking  fellows ;  indeed, 
I  thought  exceptionally  so.  We  proposed  questions 
to  them  covering  a  very  large  range  of  Bible-history 
and  doctrine.  They  were  never  at  fault  but  once, 
and  in  that  case  I  am  satisfied  they  did  not  get  the 
point  of  the  question.  I  doubt  if  the  same  number 
in  any  Sunday-school  in  America  would  have  an- 
swered, so  many  questions  of  the  same  character. 

Here  Mr.  Lambuth  preached  in  the  school-room, 
and  administered  the  sacrament. 

In  the  afternoon  we  went  to  the  new  chapel,  in 
another  part  of  the  city,  where  we  found  every  thing 
in  excellent  condition.  Mr.  L.  preached  to  a  large 
and  very  intelligent-looking  congregation,  and  the 
most  quie-t  and  attentive  of  all  the  promiscuous  con- 
gregations I  have  seen  in  China.     At  the  same  hour 


CANAL  TRIP.  125 

Mr.  Allen  preached  for  Mr.  Dubose,  of  the  Southern 
Presbyterian  Church. 

At  4  o'clock  p.  m.  the  missionaries  all  met  at  Miss 
Safford's  house,  and  heard  a  sermon  by  Mr.  Hen- 
drix — a  very  profitable  discourse.  Miss  S.  is  in  the 
employ  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Board  as  a 
teacher.  She  is  entirely  consecrated,  and,  although 
she  has  suffered  many  trials,  still  rejoices  in  the  work. 
At  night  they  all  met  again  at  the  house  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Fitch,  of  the  Northern  Presbyterian  Church,  for 
a  sermon  by  myself.  The  only  foreign  residents  at 
Soochow  are  the  missionaries,  and  visitors  are  rare, 
so  that  our  coming  was  hailed  as  a  great  event,  and 
the  Sunday  we  spent  with  the  brethren  was  a  high 
day.     We  shall  never  cease  to  pray  for  them. 

From  this  place  we  went  to  Hangchow,  and  saw 
much  and  heard  much ;  but  I  have  no  space  for  it. 
This  is,  perhaps,  the  largest,  as  it  is  the  handsomest, 
city  in  this  part  of  China.  After  spending  a  day 
with  our  brethren  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian 
Board  here,  we  returned  to  Shanghai,  arriving  early 
on  Sunday  morning. 

We  had  been  gone  less  than  two  weeks,  traveled 
350  miles,  and  seen  nine  walled  cities,  besides  towns 
and  villages  without  number. 

But  the  country  we  have  seen  is  not  what  it  was 
twenty-five  years  ago.  It  is  the  region  so  long 
occupied  by  the  insurgents.  The  great  cities  are 
not  over  half  their  former  size — some  of  them  not 
that.  Miles  and  miles  of  ruins  greet  the  eye  within 
the  walls  of  Soochow,  Hangchow,  and  other  places. 
The  stories  they  tell  of  death  and  devastation  are 
harrowing  to  the  last  degree.     By  the  side  of  it,  the 


126  LAST  DAYS  IN   CHINA. 

devastations  of  our  own  civil  war  were  as  nothing. 
War  in  civilized  and  Christian  countries  is  suffi- 
ciently awful,  but  here  it  is  in  the  last  degree 
horrible. 

But  the  country  is  recovering,  yet  it  will  be  a  hun- 
dred years,  or  more,  before  it  recovers  fully  from  the 
shock.  * 


CHAPTER  XI. 

LAST   DAYS    IN   CHINA. 

HE  TRAVELER  in  new  regions  will  often  find 
occasion  to  modify  first  impressions  and  opin- 
ions, and  this  I  have  done  in  several  particulars 
since  I  landed  in  Shanghai.  Every  particular  fact 
that  I  have  written  is  true ;  but  sometimes  the  par- 
ticular fact  is  related  to  other  facts  so  as  to  modify 
its  significance.  What  I  have  said  about  the  dreadful 
odors  one  meets  with  here  is  literally  correct;  but 
the  universal  filthiness  of  the  Chinese,  to  be  naturally 
inferred  from  this  fact,  is  nothing  like  so  bad  as  I  at 


LAST  DAYS  IN  CHINA.  \2J 

first  supposed.  True,  there  is  much  dirt  upon  the 
person  and  in  the  home  of  the  coolie,  and,  as  com- 
pared with  the  Japanese,  they  are  greatly  at  a  dis- 
advantage in  this  respect.  But  the  worst  is  on  the 
surface.  The  street  of  a  Chinese  city  is  the  most 
odious  part  of  it.  The  dwellings,  especially  of  the 
well-to-do,  are  quite  remote  from  the  street,  and 
in  an  atmosphere  comparatively  untainted.  You 
pass  from  the  street  through  two  or  three  courts,  and 
then  upstairs,  before  you  reach  the  apartments  occu- 
pied by  the  family  ;  while  on  the  street  is  the  cook- 
ing-range, and  all  depositories  of  refuse  substances, 
with  the  stench  arising  from  them.  The  street  is 
simply  a  very  bad  alley. 

There  is  so  much  to  write  about  in  China  that  I 
am  much  at  a  loss  to  select,  for  ten  thousand  things 
must  be  omitted.  But  one  of  the  most  delightful 
things  that  occurred  in  our  visit  was  connected 
with  our  leaving,  which  was  by  the  P.  and  O.  steamer 
of  Friday,  Jan.  12.  On  Thursday  evening  all  the 
missionaries,  together  with  Mr.  Hendrix  and  myself, 
dined  at  Mr.  Allen's.  Perhaps  the  American  reader 
ought  to  be  informed  that  dinner  in  this  country  is 
the  last  meal  of  the  day,  the  order  being  breakfast, 
tiffin,  or  lunch,  and  then,  at  seven  or  eight  o'clock, 
p.  m.,  dinner.  As  we  could  not  all  be  together  again, 
we  held  a  prayer-meeting  after  dinner,  and  a  season 
of  grace  it  was.  All  hearts  were  melted,  and  all 
flowed  together  in  love.  It  was  10  o'clock  when  we 
returned  to  the  residence  of  Mr.  Lambuth.  There 
the  native  helpers  awaited  us — all  but  one,  Dsau,  of 
Soochow,  who  was  too  far  away  to  make  a  special 
trip  for  the  occasion.     But  Fong,  from  Naziang,  had 


128  LAST  DAYS  IN  CHINA. 

come  down  fifteen  miles  to  take  leave  of  us. 
This  was  of  his  own  suggestion.  So,  also,  we  were 
quite  surprised  to  find  Dsung,  of  Karding,  from  a 
distance  of  twenty-four  miles.  He  said  he  had  not 
been  informed  of  the  date  of  our  departure,  but  the 
night  before  he  suddenly  felt  a  strong  impulse  to 
come  down,  lest  he  might  see  our  faces  no  more. 
Late  as  it  was,  I  could  not  forbear  to  worship  God 
with  these  devoted  men.  After  a  solemn  parting 
charge  to  them,  I  called  on  all  of  them,  one  after 
the  other,  to  lead  in  prayer,  and  then,  with  a  most 
solemn  sense  of  the  presence  of  God,  I  commended 
them  to  Him  and  to  the  word  of  His  grace.  After 
that  Mr.  Hendrix  spoke  some  most  appropriate 
words  to  them,  which  were  interpreted  by  Mr. 
Lambuth.  Then  each  one  of  them  said  a  parting 
word  to  us.  They  desired  us  to  remember  that 
the  foundations  of  the  Church  here  were  not  vet 
strongly  laid,  but  that  they  still  needed  the  uphold- 
ing hand  of  the  Church  in  America.  One  of  them 
said  that  the  branches  of  this  tree  were  not  well 
grown,  and  had  not  yet  struck  down  deep  into  the 
soil  here,  but  must  still  look  to  the  distant  root  out 
of  which  they  had  sprung  at  first.  They  desired  us 
to  be  in  prayers  for  them  daily  that  God  might  con- 
firm them  in  the  way  of  life,  and  make  their  word 
effectual  to  the  salvation  of  their  countrymen,  assur- 
ing us,  at  the  same  time,  that  they  would  pray  for  us, 
that  we  might  have  a  prosperous  journey,  and  reach 
our  homes  in  peace.  They  requested  us  to  be  the 
bearers  of  messages  of  love  to  the  Church  in  Amer- 
ica, to  which  they  were  indebted  for  the  word  of 
God,  which  had  enlightened  their  hearts  and  turned 


LAST  DAYS  IN  CHINA.  120, 

them  away  from  dumb  idols  to  serve  the  living  God ; 
and  to  ask,  in  their  name,  that  prayer  should  be  made 
for  them  continually,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God 
might  rest  upon  them,  and  that  they  might  be  filled 
with  His  grace.  Finally,  they  most  affectionately  re- 
quested us  to  visit  them  again,  expressing  the  hope 
that  should  we  do  so  we  might  find  that  the  seed  had 
produced  a  harvest  of  not  only  thirty  or  sixty,  but  an 
hundred-fold. 

In  all  this  there  was  a  depth  of  feeling  expressed 
in  countenance  and  voice  that  touched  us  deeply. 
There  is  not,  in  my  mind,  the  slightest  doubt  remain- 
ing that  the  Chinaman  is  as  susceptible  of  Christian 
agencies  as  any  other  man,  and  as  capable  of  taking 
on  the  highest  type  of  Christian  charcter.  He  is  a 
man,  though  an  idolator,  and,  when  the  subject  of 
converting  grace,  he  has  as  deep  and  rich  a  sense  of 
God  as  human  nature  is  capable  of.  His  faith  is  as 
strong  and  commanding,  his  power  of  self-denial  as 
great,  his  love  as  pure,  and  his  life  as  devoted,  as  that 
of  the  European  or  American.  It  is  true  that  the 
Chinese  civilization,  though  elaborate,  is  decidedly 
low  as  compared  with  that  of  Europe  or  America; 
but  the  main  cause  of  this,  I  am  satisfied,  is  found  in 
the  false  religion  in  which  he  has  been  bred  for  ages. 
I  think  it  is  also  true  that  the  sense  of  integrity  in 
the  average  Chinaman  is  low,  comparatively ;  but  the 
same  cause  again  has  produced  this  result.  The 
knowledge  of  God  will  bring  out  both  the  civilization 
and  the  average  character  of  the  Chinese,  and  raise 
them  to  the  highest  plane. 

I  am  now  going  to  state  a  proposition,  of  the  truth 
of  which  I  have  no  doubt,  and  one  which  is  of  the 

*5 


I3O  LAST  DAYS  IN  CHINA. 

greatest  importance  to  the  Church.  My  opinion  in 
the  premises  is  formed  upon  large  inquiry  and  ex- 
tended observation.     It  is  this: 

The  Chinese  are  the  most  vital  of  all  the  Asiatic 
peoples,  and  naturally  superior  to  all  others,  being  at 
this  time  the  most  progressive,  and,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Japanese,  the  only  progressive  people  of 
the  East. 

In  justification  of  this  statement,  I  adduce  the  fol- 
lowing facts : 

1.  The  Chinese  are  the  only  people  of  the  East 
who  go  abroad  in  considerable  numbers.  The  large 
irruption  of  them  into  America  is  a  fact  well-known. 
Nearer  home  they  are  more  numerous.  In  all  the 
islands  and  countries  along  the  Straits  of  Malacca, 
and  as  far  as  Siam,  they  are  found  in  great  numbers. 

2.  They  are  the  most  industrious  and  prosperous 
people  in  all  the  regions  invaded  by  them.  In  San 
Francisco  they  have  almost  monopolized  certain  in- 
dustries ;  but  in  Asiatic  countries  this  is  true  in  a 
higher  degree.  There  the  most  lucrative  employments 
are  in  their  hands.  They  are  the  mechanics  and  arti- 
sans, arid,  to  a  large  extent,  the  merchants  of  the 
countries  where  they  are  found  away  from  home.  At 
Nagasaki,  in  Japan,  they  are  competing  strongly 
with  Europeans  and  Americans  for  commercial 
supremacy,  and  at  the  leading  Japanese  ports  they 
are  the  bankers.  Indeed,  the  finances  of  Japan  are 
largely  controlled  by  them.  In  San  Francisco,  too, 
there  are  some  princely  Chinese  merchants ;  and 
recently,  I  am  told,  they  have  established  a  great 
importing  house  in  London. 

3.  The  foreign  business  of  the  open  ports  in  China 


LAST  DAYS  IX  CHINA.  I3I 

is  passing  more  and  more  into  Chinese  hands. 
When  the  ports  were  at  first  opened  the  native  mer- 
chants, ignorant  of  European  business  customs, 
allowed  foreigners  to  monopolize  the  international 
commerce;  but  not  so  now.  They  have  proved  apt 
scholars,  and  are  in  active  and  successful  competi- 
tion with  the  world  in  every  line  of  business.  Even 
in  the  matter  of  steam-navigation  they  are  coming 
to  the  front.  At  first  steamboats  and  steamships 
on  their  waters  were  owned  entirely  by  Americans 
and  Englishmen ;  but  now  native  companies  are 
taking  the  lead;  and  if  things  continue  to  go  on  as 
they  now  promise  to  do,  the  foreigner  will  be  rooted 
out  in  a  few  years.  They  are  beginning  actually  to 
build  steamships  at  home,  and  are  even  providing 
themselves  with  iron-clad  men-of-war.  They  are 
getting  up  stupendous  works  at  the  arsenal,  which 
we  visited  in  company  with  Mr.  Allen,  who  is  a 
teacher  in  the  Government  school  there.  They  are 
manufacturing  fire-arms  of  the  most  approved  Amer- 
ican models,  and  the  work  is  as  neatly  and  thor- 
oughly done  as  it  is  anywhere  in  the  world. 

It  is  true  that  in  many  respects  they  are  at  a  dis- 
advantage, and  are  inferior  to  the  people  of  Europe 
and  America.  Thev  are  the  slaves  of  immemorial 
tradition,  not  only  in  the  matter  of  religion,  but  in 
regard  to  social  customs,  political  economy,  educa- 
tion, and  every  thing  else.  They  are  in  many 
respects — in  viost  respects — just  what  they  have  been 
for  two  or  three  thousand  years.  But,  as  I  have 
already  intimated,  this  is  owing  more  to  the  dreadful 
tyranny  of  a  false  religion  than  to  any  natural  inca7 
pacity    for    progress.      As    the   true    faith    becomes 


I32  LAST  DAYS  IN  CHINA. 

spread  abroad  more  and  more  you  will  see  Chinese 
mind  bounding  forward  with  a  spring  and  vigor  that 
will  astonish  the  world. 

At  any  rate,  my  statement  remains  true,  that  of 
all  Asiatic  nations  they  are  the  most  vigorous. 
Indeed,  they  are  the  only  people  of  the  East  who  go 
abroad  in  such  numbers  as  to  affect  the  conditions  of 
neighboring  countries — the  only  people  who  are 
largely  felt  abroad. 

What  interest  has  the  Church  in  this  fact  ?  This : 
the  conversion  of  China  would  be,  virtually,  the  con- 
version of  all  Eastern  Asia,  and  thai:  would,  prac- 
tically, complete  the  conquest  of  the  world. 

I  rejoice,  that  though  our  Church  has  but  one 
Mission  across  the  ocean,  that  one  is  in  China.  It 
puts  us  into  the  midst  of  the  campaign  which  is  to 
be  final  and  decisive  in  the  enthronement  of  the  Son 
of  God  over  the  nations.  China  conquered,  the 
world  will  be  virtually  at  the  feet  of  Jesus.  Here 
we  are  at  the  front.  There  are  400,000,000  souls  in 
this  Empire  itself,  and  then,  as  Ave  have  seen,  they 
influence  vitally  other  regions.  The  Christian  faith 
once  dominant  in  China,  it  must,  through  the  Chi- 
nese, move  out  with  great  vigor  upon  all  neighboring 
peoples. 

Let  the  Church,  then,  advance  in  full  force  upon 
China.  It  is  the  great  strategic  point  now.  We  must 
mass  our  forces  here.  By  this  "we'  I  mean  the 
whole  Christian  Church.  But  especially,  now,  I  appeal 
to  our  own  Church ;  for,  if  we  are  fortunate  in  having 
selected  China  as  our  field  of  operations  in  the 
Orient,  we  are  fortunate,  again,  in  the  particular  loca- 
tion we  have   chosen    in  the   Empire.     Shanghai,  at 


LAST  DAYS  IN  CHINA.  I  33 

the  mouth  of  the  Yang  Tse  Kiang,  and  commanding 
the  commerce  of  that  great  river,  as  well  as  the  coast- 
commerce  of  a  very  extended  and  fertile  region,  is 
the  great  entre-pot  of  Central  China.  It  is  in  a  tem- 
perate climate,  and  in  immediate  connection  with 
that  wonderful  system  of  canals,  the  like  of  which  is 
not  in  all  the  world.  Here,  on  an  area  as  large  as 
one  of  our  larger  States,  we  have  in  easy  reach  a 
population  equal  to  that  of  the  United  States.  It  is 
an  alluvial  region  and  swarms  with  human  souls. 

Take  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  square  about  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi  river;  suppose  all  its  swamps 
to  have  been  drained,  and  canals  running  in  even* 
direction  through  it,  not  more  than  eight  or  ten  miles 
apart ;  then  suppose  a  family  to  every  twenty  acres  of 
it,  and  four  cities  of  from  five  to  seven  hundred 
thousand  inhabitants  in  it;  and  then  other  towns  and 
cities — I  know  not  how  many — of  from  five  to 
seventy-five  or  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants, 
and  you  will  have  a  picture  of  the  country  immedi- 
ately accessible  to  Shanghai.  There  could  be  no 
better  base  of  operations.  We  must  have  been 
guided  by  Providence  in  the  selection.  Then,  in 
this  immediate  region,  and  covering  a  large  area, 
there  is  no  other  Methodist  Mission  but  ours. 

What  a  compact  Annual  Conference  might  be 
formed  here,  with  the  easy  communication  of  the 
canals  for  itinerating  purposes.  The  preachers 
might  come  in  to  attend  the  session  for  a  hundred 
miles  in  every  direction,  at  a  cost  of  from  three  to 
five  dollars  each,  the  round  trip — and  this  would 
include  eating  and  sleeping. 

My  plan  is  for  our  Church  to  keep  to  this   field. 


134  LAST  DAYS  IN  CHINA, 

Go  nowhere  else  outside  of  America.  Enlarge  here, 
instead  of  going  to  Japan,  Siam,  Persia,  or  anywhere 
else.  Enlarge  here,  and  make  a  Conference,  so  that 
our  brethren  may  have  all  that  great  advantage  there 
is  in  numbers  and  annual  sessions,  kindling  enthusi- 
asm and  imparting  courage.  Put  them  in  a  condi- 
tion that  will  create  an  esprit  de  corps.  Let  them 
have  the  inspiration  there  is  in  the  fellowship  of 
saints. 

But  is  there  any  hope  of  large  success  ?  Practical 
men  will  ask  this  question.  I  answer  first,  the  Lord 
has  commanded  us  to  go  into  all  the  world  and 
preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,  and  go  we  must, 
irrespective  of  consequences,  which  we  are  to  leave 
to  him.  I  answer,  also,  secondly  :  Yes  !  Up  to  this 
time  our  success  has  been  all  we  had  any  right  to 
expect,  in  view  of  our  feeble  and  intermittent  labors, 
and  the  prospect  of  success  brightens  with  every 
year.  With  twenty  missionaries  in  the  field,  and  ten 
schools,  we  would  soon  have  fifty  native  helpers  and 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  converts. 

But  wre  cannot  send  twenty  at  once.  No,  cer- 
tainly ;  but  we  can  send  two  or  three  additional  ones 
every  year  until  we  reach  the  number. 

But  Mexico  calls  for  more  money;  Brazil  calls  for 
more ;  Key  West  calls  for  more  ;  the  West  calls  for 
more;  China  calls  for  more,  and  the  collections  are 
falling  off,  for  the  times  are  hard,  money  is  scarce, 
and  the  Church  feels  but  little  interest  for  the  souls 
of  men.  May  God  be  merciful  to  us  !  O,  my  breth- 
ren, let  us  come  up  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against 
the  mighty ! 


IN  MEMORIAM.  135 

We  want  $100,000  for  the  American  continent,  and 
$20,000  for  China. 

The  Presbyterian  Church,  in  addition  to  all  its 
fields  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  has  forty  mission- 
aries in  China  alone,  and  we,  with  no  other  missions 
in  this  hemisphere,  have — one,  two,  three — only 
three ! 

I  rejoice  in  fraternity,  I  rejoice  in  a  growing  census, 
I  rejoice  in  numerous  and  prosperous  institutions  of 
learning,  I  rejoice  in  church-building  and  parsonage- 
building  at  home ;  but  I  weep  and  mourn  over  the 
little  we  are  doing  for  the  salvation  of  the  people  that 
sit  in  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

IN    MEMORIAM. 

I   COULD  not  think  of  leaving  China  until  I  had 
seen  two  graves. 

In  company  with  Mrs.  Lambuth,  I  went  this 
afternoon,  first,  to  the  new  English  cemetery.  The 
grounds  are  beautifully  ornamented  and  well-kept, 
being  pleasantly  situated  in  one  of  the  best  suburbs 
of  the  city.     In  one  of  the  most  eligible  parts  of  the 


I36  IN  MEMORIAM. 

grounds,  on  a  principal  avenue,  we  came  upon  an 
elegant  marble  monument,  bearing  the  following 
inscription,  which  I  give  without  preserving  the  form 
in  which  the  lines  are  carved  : 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  Benjamin  Jenkins, 
D.D.,  born  June  16,  1814;  died  March  13,  1871. 

"  He  was  fourteen  years  a  missionary  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  seven  years  in 
the  consular  service  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
at  this  port. 

"  He  was  highly  respected  by  a  wide  circle  of 
friends,  as  a  Christian  of  earnest  and  unassuming 
piety,  a  scholar  of  large  and  varied  attainments,  and 
a  public  officer,  faithful  and  zealous  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties. 

"'Absent  from  the  body,  present  with  the  Lord.' 

"  '  If  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again?  '  " 

The  Doctor  was  first  buried  in  the  old  cemetery, 
but  his  widow  had  the  remains  removed  to  this  one, 
and  the  monument  was  erected  by  his  son.  We  con- 
templated the  grave  with  tender  interest,  and  felt 
that  the  Church  was  honored  by  the  presence  of  one 
of  her  earliest  messengers  to  China,  who  sleeps  so 
far  away  from  his  brethren,  consecrating  the  soil  on 
which  he  came  to  preach  Christ  and  the  resur- 
rection. 

We  then  proceeded  to  the  old  cemetery,  and 
found  it  full  of  monuments.  But  it  is  well-preserved 
and  carefully  kept.  We  soon  found  a  massive 
granite  monument  in  the  form  of  a  sarcophagus. 
On  the  slab  are  these  words  :  "  Helen  Morphis 
Wood,  wife  of  Rev.  M.  L.  Wood,  Missionary  to 
China.     Born   in   North    Carolina,    U.  S.  A.,  Jan.  7, 


IN  MEMORIAM.  I  37 

1836;  departed  this  life  in  Shanghai,  March  10, 
1864.     'To  die  is  gain.'  " 

So  for  the  love  of  Christ  she  came  ten  thousand 
miles  from  home,  and  died  in  a  land  of  strangers. 
But  what  does  it  concern  us  where  we  die,  if  only  we 
die  in  the  Lord?  I  thought  of  the  bereaved  husband 
and  motherless  children,  leaning  on  the  arm  of  God 
where  there  was  nothing  else  to  lean  upon.  But  it 
was  an  Almighty  support,  and  "  the  light  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ"  shone  as  full  here  as  in  America. 

We  saw,  also,  the  graves  of  four  of  our  Brother 
Allen's  little  ones,  who  just  tasted  life  in  a  pagan 
land,  to  be  removed  to  the  Father's  house  and  enter 
into  life  eternal. 

Thus  the  Church  is  bound  to  China  by  the  mys- 
teries both  of  life  and  death.  We  have  six  bodies 
planted  here  for  the  resurrection.  Besides  these, 
there  are  several  native  Christians  of  our  Communion 
sleeping  here,  among  them  two  native  helpers — the 
noble  and  lamented  Liew  (James  O.  Andrew  he  was 
named  by  us),  and  one  whose  name   I  do  not  recall. 

In  reflecting  upon  this,  the  great  future  sweeps 
into  vision  before  me.  Shall  not  our  Zion  have  a 
host  to  come  up  at  last  from  this  Empire,  the  Ameri- 
can missionary  and  the  pagan  convert  rising  together 
from  the  same  dust,  and  hailing  the  descending  Lord 
with  a  mingled  shout,  responding  to  his  voice?  for 
"the  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  Heaven  with  a 
shout"  when  He  comes  to  gather  His  redeemed  from 
the  four  corners  of  the  earth. 

O  !  the  blessed  toil  of  the  missionary  !    What  if  he 


I38  FROM  SHANGHAI  TO  CANTON. 

is  unheeded  by  tens  of  thousands  of  the  blind 
heathen  to  whom  he  lifts  up  his  voice?  Some  hear 
and  are  saved,  and  the  number  is  swelled  in  an  ever- 
increasing  ratio.  China  will  turn  to  the  Lord !  I  feel 
it ;  I  almost  see  it.  What  if  he  is  half- forgotten  at 
home  ?  He  is  never  forgotten  in  heaven.  There 
is  an  eye  that  follows  him  with  love  by  night  and  by 
day,  the  eye  that  never  slumbers. 

How  I  would  love  to  labor  and  die  here  among 
these  missionaries  of  the  cross  !  How  I  would  love 
to  rise  at  the  last  day  in  the  midst  of  a  multitude  of 
heathen  converts ! 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

FROM  SHANGHAI  TO  CANTON. 

N  FRIDAY,  January  12,  we  had  early  break- 
fast, and  went  on  board  the  steamer  Geelong, 
accompanied  to  the  Bund  by  Mr.  Allen  and  the 
native  preachers,  where  we  took  an  affectionate  leave 
of  them.  I  have  them  daguerreotyped  upon  my 
memory  still,  as  they  stood  there  watching  our  de- 
parture. May  the  peace  of  God  abide  with  them  ! 
Mr.  Lambuth  and  Mr.  Parker  accompanied  us  on 
board  of  our  ship,  which  was  anchored  out  in  the 


FROM  SHANGHAI  TO  CANTON.  I  39 

harbor.  After  affectionate  leave-taking,  they  de- 
scended to  their  sampans,  and  we  watched  them,  as 
they  rowed  away  to  the  shore,  with  no  little 
emotion.  Our  hearts  were  knit  to  them  by  the 
strongest  ties. 

Our  anchor  was  soon  raised,  and  we  steamed  down 
the  Wongdoo,  twelve  miles,  into  the  Yang  Tse,  and 
down  that  to  the  great  ocean.  We  were  favored  by 
the  north-east  monsoon,  and,  with  all  sail  up,  what 
with  wind  and  steam,  we  fairly  split  the  waves,  and 
dashed  away  southward,  committing  ourselves  to  the 
care  of  God. 

Our  ship  is  not  a  very  large  one,  but  staunch  and 
trim,  a  first-rate  sea-boat,  and  makes  excellent  head- 
way. She  is  a  screw-propeller — the  first  of  her  class 
we  have  been  on.  Her  English  officers  are  genuine 
gentlemen,  communicative  and  accommodating  in 
the  highest  degree.  The  "  Lascars  " — sailors — are 
East  Indian  Mohammedans.  The  coal  is  handled  by 
unmitigated  Zanzibar  negroes.  The  steward  and 
waiters  are  English.  There  are  but  few  passengers, 
so  that  each  one  has  a  state-room  to  himself — a  great 
comfort  in  sea-going  vessels.  By  Sunday  the  waves 
were  running  briskly  under  a  stiff  breeze,  and  the  top 
of  one  made  a  dash  at  my  window,  but  did  not  quite 
break  it,  though  quite  a  sprinkling  of  the  brine  got  in 
through  the  cracks.  Xo  great  damage  done.  Our 
ship  behaves  admirably.  We  were  told  we  should 
be  at  Hong  Kong  by  daylight. 

In  the  afternoon  of  Sunday  we  saw  our  captain, 
with  his  eye-glasses,  peering  out  to  landward,  anx- 
iously. This  went  on  so  long  as  to  excite  attention, 
and  we  learned,  on  inquiry,  that,  according  to  the 


140  FROM  SHANGHAI  TO  CANTON. 

ship's  reckonings,  land  ought  to  be  in  sight,  but  was 
not.  There  had  been  some  error,  evidently,  the  re- 
sult, probably,  of  ocean  currents,  which  are  very 
strong  in  these  seas.  Monday  morning  we  were  up 
early,  hoping  to  catch  the  Canton  boat  at  8  o'clock, 
when,  to  our  surprise,  we  were  still  out  of  sight  of 
land.  There  was  a  heavy  m'st,  and,  to  be  certain  to 
avoid  some  treacherous  shoals,  our  captain  had  borne 
seaward  during  the  night,  and  now  did  not  know  ex- 
actly where  he  was.  So  we  were  lost — just  a  little. 
However,  some  bold  headlands  soon  showed  them- 
selves, our  whereabouts  was  determined,  and  by  noon 
we  cast  anchor  in  front  of  the  city  of  "  Victoria," 
commonly  called  Hong  Kong. 

It  is  built  on  an  island,  separated  from  the  main 
land  by  a  strip  of  water  two  or  three  miles  wide. 
The  island  is  not  more  than  twelve  or  fifteen  miles 
long,  I  believe,  by  seven  or  eight  wide,  and  was 
ceded  to  Great  Britain  in  1842.  Since  then  a  strip 
of  land  across  the  channel,  on  the  main  land,  has 
been  ceded,  also,  for  police  purposes.  The  island  is 
a  mountain,  seventeen  or  eighteen  hundred  feet  high. 
On  the  slope  between  the  water  and  the  mountain 
the  city  is  built,  and  contains  some  two  thousand 
foreigners,  and  something  less  than  two  hundred 
thousand  Chinese.  It  is  a  great  commercial  center, 
and  adds  not  a  little  to  the  prestige  of  Great  Britain 
in  the  East.  In  the  style  of  its  streets  and  buildings 
it  is  a  cross  between  English  and  Chinese.  As  it 
lies  on  the  slope,  it  presents  an  aspect  of  great 
beauty  as  seen  from  the  sea,  especially  at  night, 
when  the  streets  and  houses  are  all  lighted  up. 

We  soon  got  into  a  sampan  and  went  ashore.    Our 


FROM  SHANGHAI  TO  CANTON.         I4I 

first  point  was  the  post-office,  where  letters  from  home 
were  awaiting  us.  Over  the  door  of  the  post-office 
these  words  greeted  us,  cut  in  stone:  "As  cold 
waters  to  a  thirsty  soul,  so  is  good  news  from  a  far 
country."  So  we  found  it,  indeed.  All  well  at  home  ! 
God  is  merciful  to  us  still,  as  in  times  past.  Let  His 
name  be  praised!  From  the  post-office  we  called  on 
the  United  States  Consul,  Mr.  Bailey,  a  very  pleasant 
gentleman,  with  whom  we  spent  a  half-hour  most 
delightfully.  He  extended  to  us  the  courtesy  of  an 
invitation  to  call  on  his  family,  which  we  intended  to 
do,  but  circumstances  prevented  it.  We  had  letters, 
also,  to  Sir  John  Smale,  Chief  Justice  of  Hong  Kong. 
Accordingly,  we  called,  but  found  him  out,  to  our 
regret,  as  we  had  every  reason  to  entertain  a  high 
regard  for  him. 

A  long  walk  through  the  business  parts  of  the  city 
revealed  a  scene  of  wonderful  activity,  which  I  can- 
not describe.  It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  there  is 
no  such  thing  in  this  country  as  manufacturing  by 
machinery.  Every  thing  is  made  by  hand,  and  the 
shops,  all  open  in  front,  are  upon  the  edge  of  the 
narrow  street.  When  I  say  all  open,  I  do  not  mean 
that  there  is  an  open  door  into  them,  but  that  the 
enthe  front  is  open.  In  the  region  of  shops,  where 
carpenters,  cabinet-makers,  blacksmiths,  copper- 
smiths, brass-smiths,  tinners,  shoemakers,  and  many 
others  are  in  full  blast,  the  racket  is  almost  deafening. 
They  are  huddled  close,  only  a  thin  partition  sep- 
arating two  shops,  so  that  within  a  small  compass, 
on  each  side  of  the  narrow  street,  many  diverse 
employments  and  noises  greet  the  eye  and  ear. 

A  circuitous  road  has  been  made  which  makes  the 


1 42  FROM  SHANGHAI  To  CANTON. 

ascent  of  the  steep  mountain,  in  the  rear  of  the  city, 
very  practicable,  and  we  should  have  climbed  to  the 
summit  but  that  the  atmosphere  was  obscured  by 
fogs,  so  that  the  view  would  have  been  very  limited. 

The  return  walk  we  made  along  the  Bund,  for  the 
purpose  of  making  inquiry  about  the  Canton  boat, 
for  our  ship  was  to  remain  at  this  port  long  enough 
to  enable  us  to  visit  that  city.  There  was  a  count- 
less multitude  of  junks  and  native  boats  lying  near 
the  shore,  and  several  large  men-of-war,  of  various 
nations,  with  merchant  steamers  not  a  few,  anchored 
farther  out.  As  we  walked  slowly  along  we  saw  a 
great  steamer  swing  from  her  moorings,  and  move 
grandly  away.  It  was  the  Tokio,  bound  for  San 
Francisco.  By  the  courtesy  of  the  Consul  we  had 
been  able  to  get  letters  on  board  of  her  at  the  last 
moment.  She  was,  therefore,  a  link  between  us  and 
our  loved  ones,  and  our  eyes  followed  her  with 
affection. 

We  found  that  there  wTere  two  boats  for  Canton, 
maintaining  a  sharp  competition.  First-class  passage 
had  been  reduced  from  five  dollars  to  one,  and  steer- 
age from  one  dollar  to  ten  cents.  The  Chinese 
nearly  all  go  steerage,  and  while  rates  are  so  low  they 
go  in  crowds — as  many  as  can  crowd  in.  The  gov- 
ernment of  Hong  Kong  has  had  to  interfere,  and 
limit  the  number  to  seven  hundred. 

Toward  dusk  we  took  a  sampan  and  returned  on 
board  the  Geelong  for  the  night.  The  "  sampan ' 
deserves  a  passing  remark.  It  is  the  size  of  a  large 
skiff,  but  constructed  differently,  being  longer,  and, 
toward  the  bow,  more  pointed.  It  has  a  floor  laid 
two  or  three  inches  below  the  upper  edge.     In  the 


FROM  SHANGHAI  TO  CANTON.  143 

widest  part,  which  is  nearer  the  aft-part  than  the 
bow,  there  is  a  square  opening  in  the  floor,  and 
around  this  the  floor  serves  as  a  convenient  seat,  with 
sufficient  space  to  accommodate  four  or  five  persons. 
Over  this  part  there  is  a  circular  covering,  made  of 
bamboo  slits,  or  some  sort  of  matting.  There  are 
trap-doors  through  the  floor,  and  under  it  many 
things  can  be  stowed  away. 

Many  of  these  sampans  belong  to  families,  and 
serve  the  double  purpose  of  a  residence  and  a  means 
of  subsistence.  The  family  live  upon  it,  and  navigate 
it  about  the  harbor  on  any  errand  that  may  offer. 
The  wife  or  daughter  is  quite  as  skillful  and  ener- 
getic in  managing  it  as  the  man.  They  have  a  mast 
and  a  little  sail  for  use  when  the  wind  favors,  in  which 
casej  with  sail  and  oar,  they  make  fine  speed. 
Usually  the  wife  holds  the  rudder  and  the  husband 
manages  the  sail  and  oar;  but  when  there  are  chil- 
dren large  enough  to  aid  there  are  two  or  three  at 
the  oars,  and  I  have  seen  a  woman,  with  a  child 
strapped  upon  her  back,  using  the  oar,  or  spread- 
ing or  lowering  the  sail,  or  using  the  bamboo- 
pole  with  great  energy.  The  bamboo-pole  has 
an  iron  point  and  hook  at  the  lower  extremity,  and 
is  used  in  shallow  water,  or  when  way  must  be  made 
through  a  press  of  boats. 

When  a  shio  comes  to  anchor  in  the  harbor  these 
little  craf:s  swarm  around  it,  the  strongest  or  most 
dexterous  getting  first  to  the  foot  of  the  ladder.  You 
get  into  one  and  go  to  any  part  of  the  harbor  for  ten 
cents — ten  cents  a  trip,  that  is,  not  ten '  cents  a  pas- 
senger— so  that  if  there  are  four  or  five  passengers 
e:.c\\  goes  for  two  or  three  cents, 


144  FROM  SHANGHAI  TO  CANTON. 

At  six  o'clock  on  Tuesday  the  steward  gave  us  a 
special  breakfast,  and  by  seven  we  were  on  board  the 
Canton  boat.  Outside  it  resembled  a  Mississippi 
steamboat,  but  the  internal  arrangements  were  quite 
different.  There  are  never  many  foreigners  traveling 
at  one  time  here,  but  there  is  a  small  cabin  for  them 
especially,  very  elegantly  furnished  and  carpeted. 
H.,  myself,  and  one  Englishman,  were  the  only  occu- 
pants on  this  trip,  except  the  officers,  who  were  Eng- 
lishmen, and  very  polite.  The  officers  of  the  rival 
boat,  we  learned  afterward,  were  Americans. 

T1^  first  thing  we  observed  when  we  got  to  our 
cabin  was  a  number  of  muskets,  pistols,  and  sabers, 
ready  for  use.  On  inquiry  we  learned  that  the  reason 
of  this  was  that  about  two  years  ago  one  of  the  boats, 
on  a  trip  to  Macao,  was  understood  to  have  eighty 
thousand  dollars  on  board.  A  company  of  Chinese 
took  passage — no  unusual  thing — but  these  fellows, 
as  it  turned  out,  were  veteran  robbers.  On  the  way 
they  killed  the  captain,  seized  the  money — which 
turned  out  to  be  but  thirty-five  thousand  dollars — 
compelled  the  engineer  to  land  the  boat,  and  made 
off  writh  their  booty.  They  made  good  their  escape, 
and  have  never  been  heard  of.  This  exploit  would 
have  done  credit  to  the  great  railroad  and  bank- 
robbers  of  America. 

We  had  been  invited  to  Canton  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Happer,  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission  at  that  place. 
By  a  little  inadvertency  he  failed  to  meet  us  on  the 
boat — and  we,  not  knowing  that  he  had  received  our 
letters,  took  a  sampan  and  started  for  his  house. 
But  he  was  soon  on  our  track,  and,  by  taking  a  "  near 
cut,"  overtook  us.     What  a  cordial  greeting  !     How 


FROM  SHANGHAI  TO  CANTON.  I45 

deep  and  abounding-  is  the  fellowship  of  saints  among 
these  missionaries  ! 

Our  time  in  Canton  was  necessarily  limited.  We 
had  felt  it  our  duty,  as  it  had  been  our  pleasure,  to 
spend  as  much  time  as  possible  with  the  brethren  of 
our  own  Church,  and  now  we  must  hasten.  We  were 
to  proceed  on  our  way  on  the  Geelong,  and  she  was 
to  leave  on  Thursday,  at  12  M.  sharp.  It  was  now 
Tuesday,  3  p.  m.,  and  the  next  morning  at  9  our  boat 
would  return  to  Hong  Kong.  We  had  no  time  to 
lose. 

Upon  a  programme,  hastily  -sketched  by  Dr.  Hap- 
per,  we  undertook  to  get  a  bird's-eye  view  of  this, 
one  of  the  greatest  cities  of  the  Empire.  So  we  took 
chairs.  A  man  does  not  take  a  chair  here  for  the 
same  purpose  as  in  America — that  is,  not  always ;  for 
sometimes  he  takes  a  sedan-chair,  in  which  case  the 
chair  takes  him,  rather.  If  he  is  going  a  short  dis- 
tance only,  the  chair  is  borne  by  two  men ;  but  as  we 
were  going  to  take  a  heavy  tramp,  we  took  three 
men  each.  We  proceeded  to  the  only  hill  in  the 
city,  and  ascended  the  five-story  pagoda  on  the  wall 
where  it  crosses  the  hill.  From  this  elevation  the 
view  is  very  fine.  Southward  is  the  city,  containing 
a  full  million  of  human  souls.  Westward  is  a  beauti- 
ful reach  of  country,  covered  with  vegetable  gardens, 
all  green,  and  striped  with  water-courses.  Northward 
are  hills,  rising  in  the  distance  into  mountains.  The 
nearer  hills  constitute  one  vast,  but  unsightly,  ceme- 
tery, relieved  by  no  marble  nor  any  shrubbery — a 
vast  reach  of  low,  irregular  earth-mounds. 

This  collection  of  all  the  graves  into  a  cemetery  is 
a  contrast  with  the  custom  farther  north,  where  every 


146         FROM  SHANGHAI  TO  CANTON. 

family  buries  its  dead  in  its  own  grounds,  and  only 
paupers  and  strangers  are  placed  together  in  a  com- 
mon ground.  Every  little  farm  of  a  few  acres  has  its 
cluster  of  graves,  which  are  irregular  mounds  of 
earth  generally,  though  sometimes  made  of  brick. 
At  a  little  distance  they  seem  to  be  as  thick  as 
shocks  of  hay  in  a  meadow.  In  my  drives  around 
Shanghai,  and  in  the  trip  to  Soochow  and  Hangchow, 
I  saw  millions  on  millions  of  them.  They  actually 
occupy  a  large  proportion  of  the  tillable  soil  of  the 
country.  I  was  glad  to  find  here  at  Canton  a  sepa- 
rate cemetery,  though  it  is  so  bald  and  dreary- 
looking. 

From  this  point  we  walked  around  on  the  city-wall 
to  the  east  gate,  sending  our  chairs  ahead  to  meet  us. 
On  our  way  we  passed  the  great  Examination  Hall, 
which  will  accommodate  ten  thousand  students.  At 
the  season  of  examinations  the  stalls  are  filled,  and 
booths  erected  to  accommodate  two  thousand  more. 

During  the  examination  each  student  enters  a  stall, 
which  is  large  enough  to  accommodate  only  one ;  a 
thesis  is  given  him,  and  there  he  sits  until  he  has  fin- 
ished his  writing.  The  tests  by  which  the  perform- 
ance is  judged  are,  conformity  to  the  classical  stand- 
ards, elegance  of  style,  and  accuracy  of  writing.  A 
very  high  standard  is  required  in  order  to  pass  to  a 
degree.  Dr.  Happer  told  me  that,  at  a  recent  exam- 
ination, an  acquaintance  of  his  produced  a  thesis  that 
was  approved  in  every  respect,  only  that  one  charac- 
ter was  made  wrong — inadvertently — a  mere  lapsus 
pernio: — but  that  was  fatal.  A  man  who  fails  may 
repeat  the  trial  over  and  over  ad  libititm,  and  now 
and  then  one  keeps  up  the  effort  until  his  head  is  . 


FROM  SHANGHAI  TO  CANTON.         I47 

gray.  If  a  young  man  succeeds  in  reaching  the 
highest  honors  it  is  the  occasion  of  the  most  extrav- 
agant congratulation.  Returning  to  his  native  place 
he  is  received  with  the  highest  marks  of  distinction. 
His  family  becomes  honorable  in  the  public  regard, 
and  the  most  exalted  rank  in  the  offices  of  the  Em- 
pire is  open  to  him,  as  he  is  now  in  the  way  of  pro- 
motion ;  but  the  poor  fellow  who  tries  and  fails  is 
overwhelmed  with  grief  and  shame. 

After  dinner  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pearcy,  of  the  Wesleyan 
Mission,  f~d  the  R.ev.  Mr.  Graves,  of  the  Baptist 
Mission,  called  on  us.  These  brethren  gave  us  much 
valuable  information.  I  was  doubly  glad  to  see  Mr. 
Graves,  as  he  is  very  nearly  related  to  my  friends, 
the  Bakers,  of  Baltimore. 

In  the  course  of  the  evening  we  learned  that  there 
would  be  a  steamer  leaving  at  3  or  4  p.  m.  for  Hong 
Kong.  This  would  give  us  another  half-day  in  Can- 
ton, and  it  was  arranged  that  we  should  take  tiffin 
with  Mr.  Pearcy,  and  then  meet  with  the  resident 
missionaries  at  his  house.  The  morning  we  devoted 
to  seeing  some  of  the  finest  parts  of  the  city,  and 
visiting  the  hospital,  and  the  temple  of  the  Five 
Hundred  Sages.  There  are  actually  five  hundred 
images,  and  the  faces  are  of  the  Indian,  not  the 
Chinese  type.  They  are  said  to  be  representations 
of  five  hundred  of  the  most  celebrated  disciples  of 
Buddha.  The  features  are  very  good,  and  there  is 
every  variety  of  expression.  One  old  fellow  is  rep- 
resented as  playing  with  his  children,  some  of  them 
being  on  his  knee,  one  climbing  up  behind  him,  and 
one  taking  great  liberties  with  his  beard,  while  he  is 


I48         FROM  SHANGHAI  TO  CANTON. 

enjoying  the   fun,  and    fairly   splitting   himself  with 
laughter. 

But  what  we  enjoyed  infinitely  more  than  all  this 
was  the  morning  prayers  in  Dr.  Happer's  chapel. 
The  native  helpers  and  others  assemble  here  every 
morning  at  half-past  6  o'clock  for  worship.  It  is  the 
best  Protestant  chapel  I  have  seen  in  China — and 
there  is  one  peculiarity  in  its  construction  that  is 
worthy  of  mention :  a  partition,  six  feet  high,  runs 
through  the  middle  of  it.  This  is  to  meet  the  de- 
mand for  seclusion  on  the  part  of  the  better  class  of 
Chinese  women. 

The  worship  was  earnest,  and  I  felt  that  it  was 
good  to  be  there.  Some  fifteen  or  twenty  men  were 
present,  and  two  elderly  women,  one  of  whom,  hav- 
ing been  cast  off  by  her  family  for  becoming  a  Chris- 
tian, has  been  obliged  to  find  a  home  on  the  Mission- 
premises. 

At  half-past  I  o'clock  the  parlor  at  Mr.  Pearcy's 
was  well  filled.  I  regretted  that  we  had  not  time  for 
a  longer  interview,  that  I  might  have  got  a  large 
statement  of  facts  and  expression  of  views,  such  as 
we  had  had  from  the  assembled  missionaries,  both  at 
Tokio  and  Shanghai.  Having  but  an  hour  together, 
we  concluded  to  spend  it  in  prayer,  with  a  brief  ex- 
hortation. God  was  with  us.  The  place  became  the 
gate  of  heaven.  The  atmosphere  was  tremulous  with 
the  voice  of  Him  who  was  dead  and  is  alive  again. 
His  word  came  again  to  every  heart,  "  Lo,  I  am  with 
you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

But  we  must  needs  hasten,  for  the  time  was  short. 
Our  dear  friend  and  host,  Dr.  Happer,  who  seemed 
to  us  as  if  we  had  known  him  all  our  lives,  accom- 


FROM  SHANGHAI  TO  CANTON.  1 49 

panied  us  to  the  vessel,  where  we  found  steam  up 
already.  Parting  was  approached  with  reluctance 
on  both  sides,  and  we  left  Canton  feeling  that  we  had 
formed  incipient  friendships  here  to  be  consummated 
in  eternity. 

On  the  deck  of  the  China,  of  Hamburg,  we  floated 
down  Pearl  river,  and  gazed  at  this  great  city  of 
1,000,000  souls — 100,000  of  whom  live  in  their  boats. 
Only  think  of  it — eating,  sleeping  and  rearing  chil- 
dren in  these  little  boats. 

Both  here  and  at  Hong  Kong  we  saw  many  men 
at  hard  labor,  naked,  except  for  a  strip  of  cotton 
goods  around  the  loins.  Many  are  barefooted.  We 
are  approaching  the  tropics.  If  we  are  prospered  in 
the  way  we  shall  see  no  more  winter — and  it  is  very 
little  we  have  seen;  for,  up  to  the  time  of  our  leaving 
Shanghai,  the  weather  had  been  exceptionally  good, 
though  the  air  there  is  damp,  and  one  feels  chilled 
when  the  mercury  is  not  very  low. 

At  daybreak  we  found  ourselves  in  Hong  Kong 
harbor  again.  Sampans  in  abundance  were  within 
call,  and  we  bounded  over  the  waves,  for  the  wind  was 
high,  till  our  dexterous  boatman  hooked  the  ladder  of 
the  Geelong  with  his  bamboo-pole,  holding  fast  till 
we  ascended.  Correspondence  was  finished  up  by 
breakfast-time,  after  which  Mr.  Hendrix  took  it  off 
to  the  post-office.  Having  a  pretty  bad  attack  of 
rheumatism,  I  remained  on  board,  which  I  almost 
regretted  when  H.  returned,  reporting  that  the  mast 
of  his  sampan  was  broken  off,  so  strong  was  the 
wind,  r.ad  that  the  well-regulated  sampan  family 
behaved  with  the  utmost  propriety.  There  was  no 
screaming,  no  confusion ;  but  materfamilias  did  every 


ISO  FROM  SHANGHAI  TO  CANTON. 

thing  just  right,  and  just  at  the  right  time,  till  the 
mast  and  sail,  which  were  overboard,  were  recovered. 
Such  meet  help  do  these  help  meets  render.  H. 
confesses  that  he  felt  serious,  for  he  thought  the  sit- 
uation a  grave  one.  I  regretted  that  I  was  not  with 
him,  for  I  have  always  thought  it  a  desirable  thing 
to  have  been  in  a  bad  storm  at  sea.     Note  the  tense. 

At  noon  we  were  fairly  under  headway  for  Singa- 
pore. We  have  seen  our  last  of  China.  'We  leave 
it  with  emotion.  We  never  enjoyed  "  communion  of 
saints'1  more  than  with  the  Christians  here,  both 
native  and  foreign.  We  have  never  experienced  a 
richer  hospitality.  We  discovered  some  admirable 
traits,  even  among  the  heathen. 

But  the  land  is  wholly  given  to  idolatry — it  lies  in 
the  shadow  of  death.  The  few  missionary  stations 
are  like  specks  of  light  in  the  illimitable  blackness. 
The  day  has  scarcely  dawned.  There  are  12,000 
native  converts  against  nearly  or  quite  400,000,000. 
Sometimes,  when  I  think  of  such  a  mighty  and  com- 
pact empire  of  Satan,  a  horror  of  great  darkness  falls 
upon  my  soul.  It  is  the  place  where  the  wicked 
one  has  his  great  stronghold  now.  He  dominates  it 
with  an  art  and  power  that  I  have  not  been  able  to 
bring  out  in  any  adequate  way  in  this  correspon- 
dence. A  near  view  of  it  is  appalling.  It  is  the  most 
fearful  spiritual  condition  that  my  imagination  has 
ever  conceived.  After  careful  inquiry  among  the 
most  intelligent  men,  and  those  longest  resident  here, 
I  am  satisfied  that  China  is  literally  without  God — 
gods  many  and  lords  many  there  are  ;  but  of  the  Infin- 
ite and  Holy  Being  who  is  the  Creator  of  all  things 
and  Judge  of  all  men,  they  have  no  knowledge.    They 


FROM  SHANGHAI  TO  CANTON.  15  I 

worship  their  own  grotesque  inventions — creatures 
of  their  own  fancy,  the  miserable  product  of  their 
own  depraved  imagination.  The  black  plague  of 
depravity  is  in  it  all.  The  degradation  of  it  is  unut- 
terable, and  the  gloom  and  despair  of  multitudes  of 
these  worshipers  is  enough  to  melt  the  very  rocks. 

Canton  is  in  many  respects  and  by  far,  the  finest, 
as  it  is  the  largest,  Chinese  city  we  have  seen.  Soo- 
chow  and  Hangchow  were,  perhaps,  as  large  before 
the  insurrection,  but  they  were  terribly  depopulated 
by  the  war,  and  have  not  yet  recovered  their  former 
greatness  ;  nor  were  they  ever  anything  like  so  well 
built  as  Canton.  Some  of  the  best  brick-work  I 
ever  saw  is  here.  The  most  perfect  of  pressed  brick 
is  laid  in  mortar,  spread  so  thin  that  it  looks  like  a 
thread  of  white  running  from  one  end  of  the  wall  to 
the  other.  The  face  of  the  wall  is  very  beautiful, 
though  the  brick  is  not  red  like  St.  Louis  brick,  nor 
has  it  the  beautiful  brownish  tint  of  some  I  have 
seen  about  Nashville,  but  approaches  a  lead-color. 
Of  course  it  is  only  the  finest  houses  that  are  so 
elegantly  built,  there  being  a  great  deal  of  coarse 
and  irregular  work.  There  are  the  same  very  nar- 
row streets  here  as  elsewhere,  but  they  are  cleaner; 
and  though  the  odors  are  bad  enough,  yet  they  do 
not  come  up  to  those  of  the  ether  cities  we  have 
visited.  The  shops  are  larger,  and  the  stocks  of 
goods  better- than  we  have  seen  elsewhere. 

There  are  less  than  five  hundred  native  Christians 
in  the  city,  and  they  are  nearly  all  in  the  Presby- 
terian, Wesleyan  and  Baptist  Churches.  Several 
cases  of  great  interest  were  related  by  Dr.  Happer, 
but  I  have  not  room  to  detail  them  here.     Growth  is 


152  FROM  SHANGHAI  TO  CANTON. 

not  rapid,  but  healthy  and  steady,  and  the  brethren 
rejoice  in  brightening  prospects  from  year  to  year. 

The  evangelization  of  China  proceeds  quietly,  but 
moves  forward  with  divine  energy.  The  greatest 
changes  are  prepared  silently.  The  meteorological 
conditions  that  introduce  the  cyclone  are  noiseless. 
The  rays  that  loosen  the  iceberg  from  the  mass  upon 
which  it  was  formed  are  unobserved.  Cataclysms 
are  the  outcome  of  silent  forces.  So  Christian  ideas 
are  making  their  way  in  China.  Far  beyond  the 
range  of  apparent  results  these  vital  truths  are  insin- 
uating themselves  into  the  minds  of  men,  and  God's 
word  accomplishes  that  whereunto  it  is  sent.  The 
great  event  is  coming.  China  will  bend  the  knee  to 
the  Son  of  God. 

When  the  issue  will  appear  no  man  can  know. 
Let  the  universal  Church  cry  to  God  that  he  may 
hasten  it  in  his  time. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

SINGAPORE. 

ON  THE  XIGHT  of  January  23,  we  dropped 
anchor  in  the  harbor  of  Singapore,  and  early 
in  the  morning  of  the  24th  steamed  up  to  the  P. 
and  O.  Company's  wharf,  which  is  two  and  a  half 
miles  from  the  city.  The  steward  gave  us  breakfast 
at  8  o'clock — an  hour  earlier  than  usual — and  H.  and 
I  took  a  gharry  and  started  off  to  see  the  town.  The 
"  gharry '  is  a  one-horse  vehicle,  with  a  singular- 
looking  body,  which  is  an  oblong  square  in  shape, 
with  seats  for  four  persons.  It  is  drawn  by  one 
horse,  usually  a  small  pony,  though  we  saw  a  few 
horses  of  good  size,  and,  in  general  appearance, 
much  like  American  horses.  But  the  ponies  com- 
monly in  use  seem  ridiculously  small  compared  with 
the  size  of  the  carriage  and  the  weight  of  the  load ; 
but  the  roads  hereabouts  are  firm  and  level,  and  the 
little  creatures  do  their  work  very  well. 

In  the  gharry  the  seat  of  the  driver  is  a  piece  of 
board  a  foot  square,  in  front,  very  near  the  horse, 
with  only  the  shafts  for  his  feet  to  rest  upon.  Our 
pony,  this  morning,  was  parti-colored,  bay  and 
white.  This  is  quite  common  among  them,  and,  so 
far  as  our  observation  extends,  the  bay  color  prevails 
over  the  neck  and  shoulders,  and  the  white  over  the 
rest  of  the  body.     Our  driver  started  off  on  a  trot, 


154  SINGAPORE. 

leading  his  pony,  but  soon  mounted  without  check- 
ing speed,  and  on  we  drove  along  a  beautiful  road, 
bordered  by  tropical  foliage,  to  see  the  wonders  of  a 
new  world.  We  saw  more  than  we  can  tell.  The 
palm-tree  is  here  in  all  its  glory.  There  is  the  cocoa- 
palm,  the  cabbage-palm,  the  fan-palm,  and  other 
species  that  I  cannot  name.  The  most  beautiful  tree 
I  ever  saw  is  the  fan-palm,  the  foliage  of  which 
spreads  out  from  the  top  of  the  stem  like  a  fan.  A 
species  of  bay  abounds,  with  foliage  closely  resem- 
bling that  of  the  magnolia,  and  another  species  with 
leaves  much  larger,  though  similar  in  other  respects. 
Wild  flowers  abound ;  vegetation  is  luxuriant,  and 
the  general  aspect  of  the  forest  answers  my  expecta- 
tation  perfectly. 

Once  on  the  road  we  found  comers  and  goers  in 
abundance,  as  might  be  expected  in  the  near  neigh- 
borhood of  a  large  city.  One  of  the  first  things  we 
saw  was  what  we  never  saw  in  China,  and  but  rarely 
in  Japan — native-wheeled  vehicles.*  Besides  the 
gharry  we  met  numerous  ox-carts,  drawn  by  the 
very  ox  we  have  seen  in  pictures — the  Burmese  ox 
— with  a  hump  on  his  shoulders.  A  few  we  saw 
drawn  by  one  in  shafts,  but  they  are  generally  drawn 
by  two.  The  yoke  is  a  very  primitive  affair,  being  a 
smooth  straight  pole. 

The  people  we  met  were  Malays,  the  natives  of 
the  country,  Tamils,  from  Madras,  Europeans,  chiefly 
English,  and  Chinese.  The  Cliinese  'outnumber  all 
the  rest,  and  the  business  of  the  place  is  largely  in 
their  hands. 


*There  are  rude  wheeled  vehicles  in.  some  parts  of  China,  but  none  in 
the  region  of  Shanghai  except  the  jinrikisha  and  wheelbarrow. 


SINGAPORE.  155 

We  drove  to  the  American  Consulate,  but  were 
warned  off  by  the  words,  "  Business-hours  from  10 
a.  m.  to  5  p.  m."  It  was  now  but  a  little  after  9.  So 
we  drove  to  the  Bank,  thinking  to  get  a  little  money. 
"  Business  from  10  A.  M.  to  3  p.  m."  Well,  by  law, 
we  can  keep  a  gharry  all  day  for  $1.50,  or  eight 
hours  for  $1.25  ;  so  we  will  see  something.  "  Take  us 
along  the  Bund."  A  fine  rock-wall  faces  the  sea  on 
our  right,  and  business-houses,  at  once  elegant  and 
massive,  tower  upon  our  left.  H.  recognizes  the 
name  of  a  banker  on  his  sign  as  one  mentioned  in 
the  list  given  with  his  letter  of  credit,  and  stops  and 
transacts  his  business,  getting,  also,  much  valuable 
information  about  the  place.  Back  to  the  Consulate. 
Our  cards  are  answered,  "  Will  the  gentlemen  call  in 
half  an  hour?  the  Major  is  indisposed,  and  is  about 
taking  his  bawik."  So  we  leave  the  Major  to  his 
bath  ;  for,  truth  to  say,  it  is  not  yet  quite  10,  and  we 
ought  to  have  been  more  considerate  than  to  call  at 
such  an  hour.  Without  further  delav.  we  drove  out 
to  the  Botanical  and  Zoological  Gardens,  three  miles 
from  the  Bund.  The  road  is  a  beautiful  one,  well 
improved,  and  bordered  with  trees,  which  make  a 
very  pretty  avenue,  and  passes  some  fine  bungalows. 
A  mile  or  so  to  the  right,  on  the  principal  elevation 
in  the  neighborhood,  is  a  fine  mansion,  the  residence 
of  the  Governor. 

We  witnessed,  also,  a  characteristic  scene — a  large 
native  laundry.  Bordering  the  road  at  one  point  is 
a  small  water-course.  The  bed  of  it  seems  to  have 
been  deepened  at  one  point  for  a  distance  of  thirty  or 
fort}"  yards,  so  as  to  give  the  water  a  depth  of  two 
feet  or  more,  and  in   this  part  the   current  is  very 


156  SINGAPORE. 

slight.  In  the  edge  of  the  water,  on  the  side  farthest 
from  the  road,  large  square  stones  are  laid  at  inter- 
vals of,  say,  twenty  feet.  The  soiled  clothes  lie 
soaking  in  the  water,  which  has  a  muddy  look.  How 
long  they  have  been  a-soak  I  know  not.  The  wash- 
ermen  stand  by  the  stones,  and,  swinging  the 
dripping  clothes  over  their  heads,  bring  them  down 
upon  the  stones  with  great  force.  Washing  is  done 
much  the  same  way  in  China.  In  all  these  coun- 
tries it  is  cheap — thirty  or  forty  cents  a  dozen — 
but  in  the  end  it  is  dear,  for  no  linen  can  stand  this 
usage  long.  In  connection  with  the  laundry  I  have 
been  describing,  there  is  a  lawn  of  perhaps  three 
acres,  the  grass  being  cut  short,  on  which  the  drying 
is  done.  When  we  passed  it  was  covered.  Some 
pieces  were  spread  out  on  the  sward,  and  some  hung 
on  lines — all  of  it  was  white  as  snow. 

The  gardens  we  went  to  visit  were  new.  They  are 
well  laid  off,  and  if  you  have  a  day  on  your  hands  it 
is  well  worth  while  to  see  them.  We  saw  a  good 
deal  of  rare  shrubbery,  with  the  scientific  name  writ- 
ten on  boards.  It  would  have  cost  us  but  little  labor 
to  copy  these  and  insert  them  here,  in  which  case  the 
reader  might  have  supposed  that  we  were  well  up  in 
the  science  of  botany,  but  otherwise  he  would  have 
been  little  the  wiser.  The  grounds  are  pleasantly  un- 
dulating, with  walks  well-arranged,  and  a  good  deal  of 
work  being  done — or  doing,  if  you  prefer.  In  a  shal- 
low pond  there  was  the  sacred  lotus,  made  so  much 
of  by  the  Buddhists,  and  which  is,  for  all  the  world, 
like  the  pond-lily  I  have  seen  so  often  at  home — foli- 
age, flower,  and  all.  Another  water-plant  here  was 
much  more  striking — the  "Victoria  Regia,"  having  a 


SINGAPORE.  157 

leaf  that  spreads  out  flat  on  the  surface  of  the  water, 
round  as  a  plate,  and  turned  up  square  at  the  edges 
an  inch  or  two,  making  a  broad,  shallow  cup.  I  saw 
one  that  was  four  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter,  but 
that  was  in  a  private  garden  which  we  visited  in  the 
afternoon. 

We  saw  here,  also,  the  celebrated  banyan-tree, 
which  drops  roots  down  from  its  branches,  so  as  to 
make  numerous  stems.     It  is  a  striking  object. 

There  is  also  a  beautiful  lake,  on  which  we  saw 
the  pelican,  the  black  swan,  and  a  very  peculiar 
species  of  duck.  The  black  swan  is  very  beautiful 
indeed,  the  long  feathers  of  the  wing  lying  like 
ruffles  on  each  side  of  the  tail. 

Near  the  pond  was  a  stable,  containing  another 
creature  which  was  not  beautiful.  It  was  the  rhinoc- 
eros. He  was  feeding  on  a  mass  of  stems  and  leaves 
from  some  sort  of  tree,  and  was  standing  in  the  door 
of  his  stable,  partly  in  the  stable,  and  having  his 
head  out,  there  being  a  small  area  in  front,  inclosed 
by  a  plank  fence.  He  was  very  gentle,  and  we  had 
a  fine  opportunity  of  examining  his  disgusting  body. 
His  head  and  neck  seemed  to  me  to  be  suffering 
from  a  cutaneous  disease ;  but  H.  thought  it  was 
natural. 

In  another  part  of  the  garden  is  a  monstrous  tiger, 
and  two  leopards.  The  leopards  are  beauties,  and 
so  is  the  tiger;  but  he  is  heavier  and  less  agile-look- 
ing than  I  had  expected  to  see.  You  ought  to  have 
heard  his  growl  as  we  passed  his  cage.  It  was 
something  sublime — if  sublimity  may  be  predicated 
of  any  such  thing  as  a  growl. 

There  is  quite  a  variety  of  monkeys,  also,  with  all 


I58  SINGAPORE. 

the  burlesque  intelligence  of  their  species.  What 
horrible  caricatures  of  the  human  face  their  features 
are  !  But  the  most  varied  and  interesting  collection 
is  that  of  birds.  There  is  quite  a  variety  of  parrots 
and  pheasants  of  very  brilliant  plumage.  But  what 
struck  me  most  was  several  varieties  of  chickens,  in 
general  form  and  habits  just  like  our  domestic  hen, 
with  feathers  as  richly  colored  as  those  of  the  pea- 
cock— indeed,  much  more  so  in  the  male.  They 
were  beauties. 

A  yard  of  a  quarter  of  an  acre  was  devoted  to 
one  emu,  which  resembles  the  ostrich  in  a  general 
way,  but  is  not  so  large,  and  is  of  a  much  darker 
color.  When  we  came  upon  him  he  was  sitting  erect 
— that  is,  he  had  dropped  back  on  his  legs,  the  whole 
length  of  the  naked  part  of  which  was  lying  along  on 
the  ground,  the  body  being  held  erect — and  he  was 
drinking  water  out  of  a  vessel.  We  had  to  throw 
two  or  three  clods  at  him  before  he  would  stir.  In 
an  adjoining  lot  were  two  ostriches,  just  such  as  we 
see  in  pictures.  They  were  fine,  stately  fellows,  and 
I  could  well  believe  all  I  had  heard  of  their  capacity 
for  running. 

We  drove  back  to  the  city,  and  took  "tiffin"  at 
the  "  Hotel  de  Europe."  While  waiting  for  this  we 
improved  the  half-hour  in  calling  upon  the  Consul 
again.  He  is  a  German,  and  in  quite  ill-health — the 
effect  of  the  climate.  He  is  evidently  addressing 
himself  to  his  duties  in  an  earnest  way.  In  answer 
to  some  question  about  the  country  and  people,  he 
said,  "  Why  !  haf  you  not  read  my  annual  repoorts  to 
de  Goofernment?  I  haf  explain  all  dese  tings  very 
full."     What  could  we  say?     Alas  for  us,  we  had  not 


SINGAPORE.  159 

read  a  single  line  of  "  cle  repoorts."  We  made  our 
call  short;  for  though  the  Major  was  good-natured, 
he  was  evidently  suffering.  But  he  did  us  good  ser- 
vice in  sending  a  note  to  Mr.  Whampoa,  whose  pri- 
vate garden  we  desired  to  visit,  recommending  us  to 
the  especial  regards  of  that  gentleman. 

Whampoa  is  a  very  distinguished  Chinaman.  He 
is  a  leading  merchant  of  Singapore,  and  has  accumu- 
lated a  vast  fortune.  The  Russian  Government  has 
appointed  him  Vice-Consul  of  the  Empire  at  Singa- 
pore, where  he  has  resided  the  greater  part  of  his  life. 
He  speaks  the  English  language  with  great  ease  and 
purity.  His  residence  is  two  miles  from  town,  where 
he  has  an  elegant  mansion,  surrounded  by  fine 
grounds,  which  constitute  one  of  the  chief  points  of 
interest  at  this  place. 

Passing  along  a  street,  we  found  ourselves  near  his 
place  of  business.  His  sign  is  very  unpretending, 
being  in  English  character,  of  a  small  size,  "  Mr. 
Whampoa's  Office."  We  concluded  to  pay  our 
respects  to  him  in  his  office,  and  so  sent  him  our 
cards.  We  found  him  an  elderly  man,  almost  de- 
crepit; but  he  received  us  with  a  courtesy  that  was 
very  elegant,  and  even  courtly,  telling  us  that  he  had 
received  a  private  note  from  the  American  Consul 
commending  us  to  his  especial  consideration,  and  that 
he  would  be  most  happy  to  serve  us  in  any  way. 
We  replied  that  we  desired  only  to  see  his  grounds, 
of  which  we  had  heard  so  much.  He  invited  us  to 
call  at  5  o'clock,  when  he  would  be  at  home  to  re- 
ceive us. 

Any  one  can  see  these  grounds,  even  in  his 
absence,  but  we  had  access,  also,  to  the  more  private 


l6o  SINGAPORE. 

gardens,  and  to  the  interior  of  the  house.  The  most 
remarkable  thing  here  is  the  representation  of  vari- 
ous objects  in  shrubbery.  Here  is  a  piece  of  shrub- 
bery trained  to  represent  a  dog,  there  another  in  the 
form  of  an  elephant,  a  gharry,  a  hog,  a  bird,  or  any 
object  you  may  fancy.  One  of  the  dogs  we  saw  was 
in  the  attitude  of  barking  furiously.  A  deer  had 
just  been  startled  from  its  feeding,  and  stood  in  the 
attitude  of  alarm,  with  its  head  turned  as  if  to  scan 
the  landscape  and  detect  an  enemy.  Birds  were  in 
flight,  some  of  them,  and  some  at  rest.  One  shrub 
represented  a  large  vase  with  a  plant  growing  in  it. 
Then  there  were  pagodas,  and  many  other  things. 
All  this  is  effected  by  making  a  wire  frame  represent- 
ing the  object,  and  training  over  it  a  species  of  box 
which  covers  it  completely,  following  the  wire 
closely,  and  concealing  it,  while  yet  the  outline  is 
perfectly  preserved. 

But  I  saw  a  cedar  trimmed  so  as  to  represent 
monkeys,  without  the  aid  of  wire.  This  was  in  the 
Parsee  garden  at  Shanghai. 

From  the  garden,  Mr.  Whampoa  took  us  to  a 
back-yard,  where  we  saw  his  fine  poultry.  While  we 
were  looking  at  this,  a  very  small  pet  deer  came  up 
to  us  in  the  most  confident  way.  "  They  all  know 
me,"  said  Mr.  Whampoa,  with  an  evident  feeling  of 
satisfaction.  Just  then  we  were  startled  by  an 
animal  which  came  hopping  along  on  its  hind  legs, 
the  fore-legs  being  ridiculously  short,  and  rarely  ever 
touching  the  ground.  I  recognized  the  kangaroo 
instantly,  though  I  had  never  seen  him  before,  ex- 
cept in  pictures.  He  was  from  Australia,  as  the 
little  deer  was  from  Ceylon.     In  a  cage  near  by  was 


SIXGAPORE.  l6l 

a  small  black  bear  with  a  yellow  streak  under  its 
neck  in  the  shape  of  a  horse-shoe.  He  was  from 
Borneo.  Another  animal  that  interested  us  much 
was  the  "  mouse-deer,"  a  little  creature  scarcely 
larger  than  a  rat,  though  taller,  being  a  perfect  deer 
in  shape.  He  was  running  from  one  end  of  his  pen 
to  the  other,  at  full  speed,  as  long  as  I  looked  at  him. 

Then  there  were  the  golden  and  silver  pheasants, 
perfect  beauties,  the  mandarin  duck,  and  a  most  re- 
markable web-footed  fowl  with  a  long,  slender  bill. 
They  call  it  a  duck,  but  really  it  seemed  to  me  to 
have  very  little  in  common  with  the  duck,  except  its 
web-foot. 

He  then  took  us  into  his  dining-room,  showed  us 
the  kitchen,  which  we  did  not  enter,  and  took  us 
through  the  hall.  In  the  dining-room  and  hall  are 
many  objects  of  interest  which  I  will  not  take  time 
to  enumerate.  He  then  took  us  up  stairs  into  the 
parlors  and  sitting-rooms,  where  were  many  fine 
things,  some  of  them  presents  from  distinguished 
men  in  Japan,  Siam,  and  China.  The  Emperor  of 
China  has  constituted  him  a  Mandarin,  and  when  H. 
referred  to  the  fact  he  seemed  quite  modest  about  it, 
and  protested  his  utter  unworthiness  of  such  an 
honor.  The  theory  is  that  a  man  reaches  the  dignity 
of  a  Mandarin  only  by  the  highest  literary  merit. 
But  men  of  great  wealth  seem  to  have  it  conferred 
upon  them  sometimes  in  a  sort  of  honorary  way. 
Woo,  of  Hangchow,  the  A.  T.  Stewart  of  China,  has 
been  distinguished  in  the  same  way. 

Our  host  at  last  led  us  out  into  a  veranda,  where 
tea  was  awaiting  us,  and  just  as  we  were  about 
sitting  down  a  great  outcry  from  below  reached  our 


162  SINGAPORE. 

ears.  The  kangaroo  had  got  out.  Mr.  Whampoa 
was  evidently  a  little  excited,  but  he  did  not  forget 
the  dignity  of  the  host.  We  had  a  fine  field  of  view 
from  the  veranda.  The  chase  of  the  escaped  pris- 
oner was  warm.  The  dogs  were  after  him,  and  they 
soon  came  in  view,  the  household  servants  yelling 
and  running  at  the  top  of  their  speed.  But  you 
ought  to  have  seen  the  kangaroo  use  his  hind  legs. 
Such  leaps  !  The  man  who  has  witnessed  it  once  is 
not  likely  ever  to  forget  it. 

We  soon  dispatched  our  tea,  took  leave  of  our 
host,  and  returning  to  town  met  the  squad  of  pur- 
suers returning  with  the  captured  beast. 

This  man  is  a  confirmed  heathen.  We  saw  the  in- 
cense-sticks burning  both  in  his  office  and  residence. 

We  had  taken  rooms  at  the  hotel,  intending  to 
spend  the  night  there,  but  seeing  lizards  running 
about  on  the  wall,  Mr.  Hendrix  was  so  strongly 
reminded  of  a  time  when  he  had  one  on  his  neck 
that  he  got  nervous,  and  so  we  slept  on  board  the 
ship,  having  a  fine  moonlight  drive  through  the 
woods,  after  first  taking  a  stroll  on  the  Bund,  enjoy- 
ing the  delicious  breeze  as  it  swept  in  from  the  sea ; 
and,  as  it  was  a  north-east  wind,  it  might  be  from 
America.  At  any  rate  we  had  hallowed  communion 
about  home,  and  the  love  of  God  and  the  grace  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  How  strange  and  sad  it 
seemed  to  us  that  such  a  man  as  Whampoa  should 
be  an  idolator!  But  it  had  been  bred  into  his  soul 
from  his  very  infancy,  and  rooted  itself  in  his  sensi- 
bilities, no  doubt,  from  his  mother's  voice. 

The  streets  of  Singapore  are  wide  for  an  Oriental 
city,  but  would  be  considered  narrow  in    America. 


SINGAPORE.  163 

They  seem  wonderfully  roomy  to  a  man  who  has 
been  spending  a  month  in  Chinese  cities,  being,  I 
should  say,  as  wide  as  those  in  the  oldest  portion  of 
St.  Louis. 

The  Chinese  swarm  in  all  the  streets,  and  have 
the  business  of  the  place  largely  in  their  hands. 
Besides  the  business  men,  many  of  whom  are  very 
prosperous,  there  are  many  Chinese  mechanics 
here.  The  Russian  Consul  is  a  Chinaman.  By 
the  way,  our  ship's  carpenter  is  a  Chinaman.  Then 
there  are  innumerable  Chinese  coolies  here  who 
seem  to  do  all  the  hard  work  of  the  place.  The 
Malays  are  indolent.  They  furnish  the  gharry 
drivers,  and  most  of  the  carts  I  saw  were  driven  by 
them.  A  good  many  of  them  are  small  shop-keep- 
ers and  money-changers.  We  had  occasion  to  get 
some  dollars  changed  into  rupees,  and  were  taken  to 
a  little  Malay  shop,  where  the  proprietor  was  sitting 
on  the  floor,  which  was  elevated  about  three  feet 
above  the  street,  and  seemed  to  me  perfectly  indif- 
ferent as  to  the  business.  He  handled  the  money 
carelessly  and  in  the  most  leisurely  way.  One  of 
them  attached  himself  to  us  on  the  street  as  a  self- 
constituted  guide,  having  a  little  English  at  com- 
mand. He  took  us  to  the  several  shops,  and  assisted 
us  in  making  purchases.  We  imagined  he  got  a  per 
cent,  in  the  way  of  commission  on  the  sales  that 
were  made  to  us. 

There  are  about  9,000  Tamils  here.  The  police 
force  of  the  city  is  taken  from  them.  Our  Consul 
informed  us  that  the  police  regulations  are  admirable, 
and  that  but  few  crimes  are  committed.     The    offi- 


164  SINGAPORE. 

cers  of  the  force,  and   the  judges   of  all  the   courts, 
are  English. 

The  coolies  are  naked,  except  for  a  loin-cloth,  and 
the  well-to-do  dress  in  thin  goods  in  a  way  which 
exposes  the  person  a  good  deal.  We  saw  but  few 
women  on  the  street — indeed,  none.  Now  and  then 
we  saw  one  at  the  door  of  her  house,  or  in  a  boat. 
Those  we  saw  were  rather  pretty.  The  Malay  is  a 
shade  darker  than  the  Chinaman ;  but  it  is  a  brown 
color  that  I  rather  prefer  to  the  Chinese  yellow. 
The  Malay  woman  is  bedizened  with  jewelry.  I  saw 
one  standing  in  the  door  of  a  poor  house,  whose 
fingers,  wrists,  ears  and  nostrils,  were  loaded.  There 
were  light  rings  at  the  top  of  the  ear,  and  heavy  ones 
at  the  bottom.  Those  in  the  nose  were  not  sus- 
pended from  the  central  cartilage,  but  from  the  out- 
side of  the  nostril. 

I  thought  of  my  countrywomen  who  undertake  to 
make  savages  of  themselves  by  mutilating  their  ears 
to  get  a  place  from  which  to  hang  jewelry.  Let 
them  come  here  and  see  what  these  ambitious 
heathen  women  do,  if  they  wish  to  learn  what  is 
practicable  in  that  line.  I  confess,  I  like  to  see 
things  done  thoroughly,  when  they  are  done  at  aU, 
and  not  minced  at.  If  a  woman  is  going  to  have 
holes  bored  in  her  ears,  why  not  in  her  nose  ?  and 
why  not  two,  as  I  have  seen,  on  the  outside  of  each 
nostril  ?  And  why  not  two  in  each  ear,  as  the  Malay 
belles  do,  the  one  in  the  lower  part  half  an  inch  long, 
the  cartilage  being  stretched  down  by  the  weight  of 
the  jewel?  Let  the  young  ladies  of  America  send 
out  to  Singapore  for  the  fashions,  or  quit  the  prac- 
tice altogether. 


SINGAPORE.  I65 

Three  canoes,  with  two  boys  in  each,  came  about 
our  ship,  and  spent  a  good  part  of  the  day.  Except 
for  the  loin-cloth,  they  were  dressed  in  their  own 
skins.  Their  canoes,  made  of  a  single  log  of  wood, 
were  remarkably  trim  and  light,  and  they  managed 
them  with  great  dexterity.  They  called  out  to  the 
passengers  in  pretty  good  English,  proposing  to  dive 
for  any  small  piece  of  money  that  might  be  thrown 
into  the  water.  Their  agility  and  skill  as  divers  are 
wonderful.  They  never  fail  to  get  the  money  long 
before  it  reaches  the  bottom. 

One  of  them  proposed  to  dive  to  the  bottom,  and 
bring  up  some  coral  or  seaweed  for  ten  cents.  One 
of  the  passengers  agreed  to  give  it.  The  little  fellow 
stood  erect  in  his  canoe,  poised  himself,  sprang  into 
the  air,  and  went  into  the  water  perpendicularly, 
head  downward.  He  was  gone  so  long  that  I  should 
have  felt  uneasy,  only  I  saw  that  his  companions 
were  not.  At  last  he  came  up  with  two  or  three 
pieces  of  beautiful  seaweed.  He  took  breath  a  min- 
ute, looked  at  me,  and  said,  "Dime,  sir?"  "Yes." 
Down  he  went,  and  was  gone  forty-two  seconds. 
What  he  brought  up  I  hope  to  take  home  with  me. 
Again  and  again  the  feat  was  performed,  until  every 
passenger  had  a  specimen.  The  divers  got  lots  of 
cash;  I  was  going  to  say,  pocketed  lots — but  that 
they  did  not  do.  When  we  moved  off,  some  of  the 
passengers  waved  handkerchiefs  vigorously  at  them. 
They  understood  the  joke,  and  screamed  with  laugh- 
ter, responding  an  uproarious  good-bye. 

Just  at  the  hour  fixed  for  our  departure,  a  gharry 
came  down  the  road  at  a  run.  When  it  stopped,  a 
portly  man  sprang  out  with  papers  in  his  hands,  and 


1 66  SINGAPORE. 

ran  across  the  wharf  at  a  tremendous  rate  of  speed. 
He  had  an  elegant  turban  on  his  head  ;  his  clothing 
was  white  and  flowing,  with  a  space  between  the 
upper  and  lower  parts  which  exposed  a  band  of  skin 
across  the  stomach  two  or  three  inches  wide.  But, 
in  spite  of  the  disadvantages  of  his  plight,  he  was 
one  of  the  most  dignified  figures  I  ever  saw.  Though 
running  at  full  speed,  his  port  was  commanding. 
Afterwards,  as  he  stood  on  the  wharf,  he  seemed  to 
me  to  be  as  imposing  a  personage  as  I  ever  saw.  He 
was  accompanied,  also,  by  a  youth,  of  fourteen  or 
fifteen,  who  resembled  him  closely,  and  was  a  sin- 
gularly beautiful  boy.  They  were  both  of  a  re- 
markably light  color  for  this  latitude.  On  inquiry, 
I  learned  that  they  were  father  and  son — wrere  Brah- 
mans — and  possessed  of  fabulous  wealth. 

A  run  of  thirty-eight  hours  brought  us  to  Penang, 
where  we  had  six  hours  for  a  stroll  on  shore.  This 
is  a  large  city  with  good  streets  ;  belongs  to  Great 
Britain,  politically,  and  to  the  Chinese,  businessly. 
As  usual,  these  people  outnumber  everybody  else, 
and  are  the  most  enterprising  and  efficient. 

As  at  Singapore,  an  English-speaking  Malay  at- 
tached himself  to  us  unbidden,  constituting  himself 
our  guide.  Another  fellow,  very  dark-skinned,  with 
but  one  eye,  and  a  villainous  countenance,  having  a 
gharry,  followed  us  half  through  the  city,  begging 
us  to  take  a  ride  with  him.  We  were  annoyed,  as 
wTe  could  not  shake  either  of  them  off.  At  last  we 
wore  out  the  gharry-man,  who  left  us  in  despair,  but 
the  other  was  doubly  assiduous.  At  last  we  gave 
him  three  cents,  and  told  him  he  would  get  no  more. 
"Ten  cents,  master,"  he  pleaded.     If  we  had  desired 


SINGAPORE.  I67 

his  services  we  would  have  given  him  twice  that 
amount  freely.  But  he  was  in  our  way,  and  we  were 
resolved  to  get  rid  of  him.  He  left  us  in  disgust ; 
still  he  had  money  enough  to  get  his  dinner. 

There  is  not  a  single  Protestant  Mission  in  Penang. 
Think  of  it — only  one  at  Singapore,  and  not  one  at 
Penang.  Passing  a  good-looking  school-house,  we 
went  in  and  were  met  by  a  priest  who  was  very 
polite.  He  is  a  Eurasian,  from  Calcutta.  The  only 
success  they  have,  he  says,  is  with  the  Chinese — 
the  Malays  are  inaccessible. 

We  went,  also,  to  the  English  free-school,  and 
happened  to  fall  in  on  an  interesting  occasion.  It 
was  the  end  of  a  term,  and  prizes  were  to  be  award- 
ed. The  pupils  were  all  there  in  their  best  clothes. 
The  exercises  we  witnessed  consisted  of  reading 
in  English,  with  grammatical  analysis  following  ;v 
writing,  and  geography.  It  was  very  creditable.  The 
prizes  were  English  books,  and,  so  far  as  we 
examined,  such  as  go  to  create  English  sentiment. 
I  give  one  specimen  title — "  Brave  English  Sol- 
lers. 

We  observed  a  good  many  people  here  who  were 
as  black  as  Africans,  but  with  straight  hair  and 
Asiatic  features.  They  are  Klings  from  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Madras,  and  those  I  saw  are  generally 
good  looking,  in  spite  of  their  color.  Though  black 
as  negroes,  it  is  a  cleaner  sort  of  black.  The  features 
of  some  of  them  are  very  fine,  and  there  are  a  good 
many  of  them  who  are  much  lighter  colored. 

I  cannot  close  this  article  without  referring  again 
to  the  remarkable  vitality  of  the  Chinese.  They  are 
the  progressive  people  of  the  East.      The  Govern- 


1 68  SINGAPORE. 

mcnt  of  China  is  not  progressive,  but  the  people  are. 
They  have  overflowed  on  all  the  shores  of  Eastern 
Asia  and  Western  America.  They  are  influential, 
especially  in  Asia.  They  will  never  affect  the  insti- 
tutions nor  the  national  life  of  America.  But  the 
whole  region  of  Mongolia  and  Thibet  is  moulded 
largely  by  Chinese  thought,  and  in  Siam  the  Govern- 
ment is  influenced  greatly  by  them.  The  Japanese 
civilization  came  from  China,  while  Corea,  Formosa, 
and  Cochin  China,  are  little  more  than  Chinese 
colonies,  so  far  as  the  life  and  thought  of  the  people 

go- 

The  conversion  of  China  would  go  far  to  complete 

the  conquest  of  the  world  for  Christ.     It  is  the  great 

achievement  which  the   Church  has   before  it   now. 

That  accomplished,  between   Russia   and   China  on 

this  side  and  the  north,  and  Europe  on  the  other, 

Western   Asia   would    be   compelled    to    capitulate ; 

and,  as  for  Africr,  it  will  ultimately  be  what  Europe 

and  Asia  make  it. 

The  Churches  of  America  are  chiefly  responsible 
for  the  conquest  of  China.  Europe  is  remote.  There 
is  the  Mediterranean,  the  Suez  Canal,  the  Red  Sea, 
the  Indian  Ocean,  the  Straits  of  Malacca,  and  the 
China  Sea,  to  be  traversed.  From  America  there  is 
only  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Of  the  Churches  in  America,  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  has  the  greatest  responsibility  in  the  premises. 
All  the  other  great  denominations  have  scattered 
their  forces  in  the  East.  We  are  nowhere  but  in 
China.  We  can  concentrate.  We  can  bring  the 
great  resources  of  a  powerful  and  wealthy  com- 
munity to  bear  here.      God  is  merciful  to  us  in  that 


TEN  DAYS  IN  CEYLON.  1 69 

his  providence  has  withheld  us  from  other  fields, 
that  we  may  deliver  our  full  strength  on  this,  the 
most  important  of  all — this,  which  is  the  key  of  the 
campaign. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

TEN   DAYS  IN   CEYLON. 

^  .^  -_HAT  METHODIST  can  approach  the  island 
\/\/     °f   Ceylon,    and  not  think    of    Dr.    Coke? 
™  I    believe    my    feelings   were    never    more 

aroused  by  any  similar  event  than  on  Wednesday, 
January  31,  as  we  came  in  sight  of  this  classic  land 
of  Methodism — made  classic  by  the  death  of  that 
adventurous  soldier  of  the  cross.  I  thought  of  him 
dying  on  shipboard,  on  his  way  to  establish  the 
Wesleyan  Mission  here.  I  thought  of  his  body  cast 
over  into  the  deep.  I  wondered  if  it  had  been  de- 
voured by  monsters,  or  whether,  sinking  into  lower 
deeps,  it  might  not  even  yet,  preserved  by  the  briny 
waters,   be   floating  there,  or  lodged  amid  the  crags 


1 70  TEN  DAYS  IN  CEYLON. 

of  some  coral  reef.  No  matter!  He  died  in  Christ, 
and  when  the  "  Lord  shall  descend  from  Heaven 
with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel  and 
with  the  trump  of  God,"  he  will  find  his  servant  and 
bring  him  forth  to  his  great  reward. 

By  sunrise  on  Thursday  morning,  February  I,  we 
cast  anchor  in  the  harbor  of  Point  de  Galle.  The 
harbor  is  small,  and  the  approach  to  it  difficult,  and 
in  rough  weather,  dangerous.  Here  we  saw  a  new 
style  of  small  boats,  designed  to  stand  the  surf  when 
the  sea  runs  high.  They  are  very,  vay  narrow,  and 
stand  high  out  of  the  water.  This  is  to  keep  the 
breakers  from  dashing  over  and  into  them.  Then,  to 
prevent  upsetting,  there  is  a  singular  contrivance. 
Toward  each  end,  on  one  side,  a  pole  is  inserted. 
These  two  poles  are,  I  suppose,  eight  or  ten  feet 
long.  They  curve  downward  toward  the  end,  and 
are  fastened  to  a  small  log  which  floats  on  the  water. 
Should  the  boat  capsize  in  one  direction,  this  log 
would  have  to  be  lifted  at  the  end  of  a  ten-foot 
lever,  high  into  the  air;  to  go  over  in  the  other  direc- 
tion, it  would  have  to  press  the  log  deep  into  the 
water  at  the  end  of  the  same  lever.  The  contriv- 
ance, though  awkward-looking,  is  very  effectual. 

We  went  ashore  early,  and  took  breakfast  at  the 
Oriental  Hotel.  After  breakfast  we  called  a  bandy 
and  drove  out  to  Richmond  Hill,  the  residence  of 
the  Wesleyan  missionary.  Of  the  ride  we  had  more 
than  we  bargained  for,  owing  to  a  misunderstanding 
of  the  driver,  who  took  us  to  Gibson's  Hill— ^-a  Church 
pf  England  Mission^trHigh  Church  at  that  But  the 
fy\v$  $vaf  a  «ye*y  $ne  pa<^  tand  jy<j  /lid  no]  peg?et  jf, 
had  the  hirbo?  on  one  $ld§,  dotted  ivitfi  ro^ 


TEN  DAYS  IX  CEYLOX.  \J\ 

near  the  shore,  and  with  ships  and  native  boats  where 
the  water  v\"as  deep.  The  surf  was  rolling  in  grandly, 
dashing  itself  into  spray  among  the  rocks,  or 
approaching  the  coast  at  an  unobstructed  point, 
breaking  into  foam  upon  the  beach.  On  the  other 
side  was  a  dense  forest  of  cocoa-nut  palm.  I  had 
seen  the  palm  before,  but  never  such  a  forest  of  it. 
The  ground  was  covered  with  the  shade,  so  that 
even  the  road  was  well  protected  against  the  rays  of 
a  tropical  sun. 

We  had  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  George  Baugh,  who 
had  been  in  charge  of  the  work  at  Galle.  But,  hav- 
ing been  recently  appointed  in  charge  of  the  Cal- 
cutta District,  he  was  on  a  visit  of  leave-taking  in 
another  part  of  the  island.  We  found  his  successor 
here,  the  P.ev.  Mr.  Shipstone,  just  out  from  England, 
scarcely  yet  installed  in  the  Mission-house.  There 
was  the  inevitable  confusion  of  domestic  affairs  inci- 
dent .to  the  moving  out  of  one  family  and  the  mov- 
ing in  of  another.  However,  the  object  of  our  visit 
was  accomplished — we  get  large  information  as  to 
missionary  affairs  in  the  Island,  and  a  good  deal  of 
insight  into  the  methods  of  work  which  obtain  in 
this  oldest  of  Wesleyan  Missions  in  the  East. 

Richmond  Hill  is  an  eminence  commanding  a  fine 
display  of  tropical  forest  near  at  hand  on  the  south, 
and  beyond  that  the  harbor  and  the  sea ;  and  having 
on  the  north  a  breadth  of  landscape  that  extends  to 
the  mountain  ranges  of  the  interior.  On  the  summit 
of  the  hill  is  the  residence  of  the  missionary,  fronting 
the  north.  This  is  flanked  on  the  left,  at  the  distance 
of  fifty  yards,  by  the  girls'-school;  and  on  the  right, 
at  about  the  same  distance,  by  the  newly-erected 


172 


TEN  DAYS  IN  CEYLON. 


residence  of  the  President  of  the  College,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Langdon,  an  excellent  scholar  and  a  thorough- 
going man.  Farther  north,  and  half-way  down  the 
hill,  is  the  College.  The  position  of  this  building  is 
rather  obscure,  but  this  was  the  only  thing  I  saw  that 
I  was  at  all  disposed  to  criticise. 

This  school  has  secured  such  a  reputation  for  effi- 
ciency and  thoroughness  that  even  the  Buddhists  are 
glad  to  patronize  it.  This  is  noteworthy,  especially 
as  it  is  not  a  free  school,  but  charges  tuition  at  fair 
rates,  and  as  it  is  universally  known  to  be  a  Christian 
school,  emphatically,  and  that  a  boy  attending  it  is 
very  liable  to  be  converted.  The  same  is  true  of  all 
the  Wesleyan  schools  in  the  Island.  It  has  been  the 
object  of  our  brethren  to  gain  patronage  by  merit, 
and  not  by  gratuitous  instruction. 

We  took  tiffin  with  the  Mission  family,  and  then 
drove  on  to  Wacwalla,  a  place  much  resorted  to  for 
its  fine  view — but  really,  the  landscape  at  Richmond 
Hill  is  better.  However,  we  were  well  rewarded, 
having  a  fine  valley  threaded  by  a  river  on  one  side. 
Besides  that,  we  saw  a  grove  of  nutmegs  and  a  cinna- 
mon-garden. Standing  on  the  summit  of  Wacwalla, 
H.  imagined  that  he  snuffed  the  "  spicy  breezes."  I 
assured  him  that  it  was  nothing  but  imagination. 
This  corrected  his  nose,  so  that  before  we  left  the 
Island  he  became  convinced  that  the  "spicy  breezes  ' 
was  mere  poetry,  nothing  else.  I  suspect  we  should 
find  it  so  even  if  we  were  in  "  Araby  the  blest."  But 
we  did  find  a  decidedly  fragrant  atmosphere  in  an 
establishment  for  curing  cinnamon  bark,  which  we 
visited.  This  was  some  compensation  to  our  noses 
for  all  they  had  undergone  in  China. 


TEN  DAYS  IN  CEYLON.  1^3 

Through  a  great  part  of  our  drive  we  were  dogged 
by  beggars,  as  we  were  in  the  town  also,  whenever 
we  stepped  outside  of  our  hotel.  These  trifling 
fellows  are  very  expert.  They  will  offer  you  a  bou- 
quet of  flowers,  or  volunteer  a  piece  of  trifling  in- 
formation, and  then  demand  pay.  If  you  venture 
to  speak  to  one  of  them  you  may  rest  assured  he 
will  have  some  of  your  money  before  you  will  ever 
be  quit  of  him. 

On  Friday  evening,  by  chance,  we  had  the  oppor- 
tunity of  going  to  Colombo  by  a  steamer  of  the 
British  India  line.  This  is  the  political  capital  of 
Ceylon,  and  if  they  succeed  with  the  breakwater 
they  are  building,  it  will  be  also  the  commercial 
emporium.  We  landed  early  on  Saturday  morning, 
and  proceeded  to  the  Galle  Face  Hotel,  a  house  kept 
entirely  by  natives,  where  we  got  a  very  good  break- 
fast, after  which  we  drove  to  Colpetty  to  call  on  the 
Rev.  John  Scott,  the  Chairman  of  the  Singhalese 
District.  After  getting  what  information  we  could, 
we  determined  to  spend  Sunday  in  Kandy.  From 
Colombo  to  Kandy  there  is  a  railroad — the  only 
one  in  the  Island,  except  a  very  short  one  which  is 
not  yet  completed. 

At  two  o'clock  we  were  seated  in  a  compartment 
of  the  second-class  coach,  and  were  soon  fairly  off 
for  the  interior.  This  trip  would  give  us  a  view  of 
life  in  regions  remote  from  European  influence,  and 
for  this  reason  we  desired  to  take  it.  Then,  Kandy 
was  famous  as  the  capital  of  the  Kings  of  Kandy, 
before  the  Island  was  fully  subjugated  by  the  Eng- 
lish. It  was  also  the  site  of  the  most  famous  Budd- 
hist temple    in  Ceylon.      The  natural  scenery,  too^ 


174  TEN  DAYS  IN  CEYLON'. 

was  represented  as  being  exceptionally  fine.  But 
what  was  of  greater  interest  to  us  was  that  the  Wes- 
leyan  Church  at  Kandy  was  represented  to  be  pros- 
perous in  a  high  degree. 

For  some  distance  the  road  lies  in  a  level  region, 
but  soon  the  undulating  regions  which  skirt  the 
mountains  appear,  and  then  the  mountains  them- 
selves, more  and  more  precipitous,  until  the  scenery 
becomes  as  bold  and  beautiful  as  any  in  the  Alle- 
ghanies  or  the  Blue  Ridge.  The  effect  is  greatly 
enhanced  by  the  tropical  luxuriance  of  the  foliage. 

The  paddy-fields  in  the  valleys,  opening  out  into 
the  heart  of  the  tangled  jungle,  were  very  picturesque. 
Heavy  forests  of  palm  of  various  species,  yielding 
more  and  more  to  other  trees  as  the  region  becomes 
more  elevated,  with  a  thick  undergrowth  of  brush, 
matted  with  creepers,  were  suggestive  of  tigers,  ele- 
phants, cobras,  and  such  like.  Then,  vast  ranges  of 
mountains,  one  behind  another,  sweeping  off  as  far 
as  the  eye  could  reach,  with  cultivated  valleys  near, 
and  the  houses  of  the  natives  appearing  here  and 
there,  constituted  a  variety  that  was  beautiful  in  the 
highest  degree.  Some  of  the  native  houses  were 
pretty  white  cottages,  but  the  greater  number  are 
of  mud,  supported  by  a  slight  bamboo  frame,  and 
thatched  with  palm-leaf.  Some  of  them  are  a  mere 
frame  of  bamboo,  the  sides  being  covered  with  palm- 
leaf,  instead  of  the  frame  being  filled  in  with  mud. 

The  dress  of  the  best  class  of  the  natives  is  a  piece 
of  figured  cotton  goods,  fastened  around  the  waist 
and  extending  down  to  the  feet.  It  is  seamless. 
Some  wear,  in  addition,  a  loose  piece  of  goods  about 
the  shoulders.     The  men  wear  their  hair  full  length, 


TEX  DAYS  IN  CEYLON.  175 

combed  back  and  fastened  in  a  knot  behind.  They 
wear,  also,  a  long  bent  comb.  The  coolies  have 
scarcely  any  dress  at  all — none,  in  fact,  except  a  loin- 
cloth. Nearly  all  the  natives  go  barefoot.  Jewelry 
abounds.  Most  of  it  is  cheap,  but  not  all.  Rings  in 
the  ears,  rings  on  the  wrists,  rings  on  the  toes,  and 
ankles,  and  rings  in  the  nose.  Children  I  have  seen 
with  ring's  of  silver  around  the  loins  and  not  a  shred 
of  clothing.  One  woman  I  saw,  a  common  laborer 
in  a  coffee-curing  establishment,  who  had — would 
you  believe  it? — fifteen  silver  rings  in  each  ear,  nearly 
all  of  them  being  large  and  heavy.  Other  women  I 
have  seen  carving  mortar-hods,  and  breaking  stone 
on  the  roads,  all  glittering  in  rings  of  brass  and  sil- 
ver, and  gold,  too. 

Ten  miles  short  of  Kandy  the  road  reaches  the 
summit  of  the  mountain  range.  The  air  is  very  fresh, 
contrasting  strongly  with  the  temperature  of  the 
coast,  yet  there  is  never  a  frost,  nor  any  approach  to 
it.  The  elevation  is  about  4,000  feet.  The  highest 
point  in  the  Island,  Adam's  Peak,  is  something  over 
7,000  feet. 

From  the  summit  we  descended  toward  Kandy  by 
a  steep  grade,  the  scenery  still  mountainous,  but 
not  so  bold  as  on  the  other  side  of  the  range.  It 
was  nearly  dark  when  we  reached  the  city,  a  place 
of  14,000  inhabitants.  We  could  not  see  what  man- 
ner of  place  it  was.  Driving  to  the  Queen's.  Hotel, 
we  r  t  good  rooms  and  good  fare.     After  dinner  a.  e 

alked  cut  upon  the  border  of  the  lake,  which  lies 

J.  * 

:    -t  aci  I   -   street  from  our  hotel     This  is  an 

-  -r  made  by  •  '   .  of 


i76 


TEN  DAYS  IN  CEYLON. 


two  sides,  and  lies  against  the  foot  of  the  mountains 
on  the  others,  being  about  a  mile  in  length,  and  hav- 
ing a  breadth  of  near  half  a  mile  in  the  widest  part, 
the     contour  being  irregular. 

After   a    night    of  most    refreshing   sleep,    in    the 
mountain    atmosphere,    we    awoke   to   find  the   city 


REV.  ELIAS  PAUL  FONSEKA. 
Native  Pastor  at  Kandy,  Ceylon. 


glowing  in  the  light  of  an  unclouded  sun.  It  is 
nestled  in  the  mountains.  We  took  coffee  early,  and 
walked  out  along  the  lake,  by  the  summer-house 
of  the  last  of  the  kings,  which  is  built  out  over 
the  lake,  around  the  temple  of  Buddha  to  the  foot 
of    the    mountains,    and    then    down    the    street    to 


TEX  DAYS  IN  CEYLON.  I// 

the  Wesleyan  Chapel.  We  fell  in  upon  the  hour 
of  the  Singhalese  service,  conducted  by  the  Rev. 
Elias  Paul  Fonseka,  the  native  pastor  recently 
ordained  an  elder.  At  the  close  of  the  service  he 
proceeded  to  the  administration  of  the  sacrament  of 
the  Lord's-Supper.  Our  hearts  leaped  within  us  for 
joy.  We  had  participated  in  this  feast  with  the 
native  Church  in  Japan,  and  in  China  both  at  Shang- 
hai and  Soochow,  and  now  it  was  spread  before  us 
in  the  very  heart  of  Ceylon.  We  approached  the 
table  with  the  lay  communicants,  and,  with  them 
took  the  bread  and  wine  at  the  hands  of  the  pastor* 
"  in  remembrance  of  Him."  It  was  a  hallowed 
moment.  I  never  felt  myself  nearer  to  the  cross.  I 
never  felt  more  deeply  the  love  of  God  and  his 
people.  These  men  of  another  hemisphere  and  of 
another  color,  were  one  with  me  in  Christ  Jesus,  and 
I  was  one  with  them  in  heart,  though  I  had  never 
before  seen  their  faces.     I  felt  indeed  that, 

"  Heaven  came  down  our  souls  to  greet, 
And  glory  crowned  the  mercy-seat." 

The  congregation  was  small,  and  the  communi- 
cants few,  but  He  made  good  His  promise  and  was 
"  in  the  midst  of  them." 

At  half-past  nine,  A.  m.,  the  English  service  opened, 
A  very  good  sermon  was  preached  by  Mr.  Nichul- 
son,  a  visiting  brother.  The  congregation  was  fair, 
as  to  numbers,  and  made  up  almost  entirely  of 
Eurasians.  There  was  an  organ  to  make  music,  and 
the  singing  was  led  by  a  voice  so  remarkable  for 
melody  and  power,  that  I  turned  involuntarily 
toward  the  choir.  The  proprietor  of  the  voice  was 
as  fine   a  looking  mart  as  you   will  fine!  in  a  month. 


1^8  TEN  DAYS  IN  CEYLON. 

The  service  was  well-conducted  in  every  respect, 
and,  to  me,  very  profitable.  After  the  service,  we 
went  forward  and  gave  our  letter  to  Mr.  Baugh,  who 
was  present.  We  were  cordially  invited  to  breakfast 
with  our  friend  of  the  fine  voice,  J.  H.  Eaton,  Esq., 
Barrister.  He  is  a  native  of  Ceylon,  but  of  Scotch 
descent.  The  visiting  brethren,  Nicholson  and 
Baugh,  with  their  wives,  were  at  his  house.  Besides 
being  one  of  the  leading  advocates  of  the  Island, 
he  is  a  Wesleyan  local  preacher.  He  is  one  of  the 
finest  conversationalists  I  have  ever  seen.  Once 
under  his  roof  we  were  as  much  at  home  as  if  we 
had  been  in  America,  and  spent  the  day  in  pleasant 
conversation  and  singing.  At  night  Mr.  Baugh 
preached  his  valedictory  sermon,  before  his  depar- 
ture for  Calcutta,  from  the  text,  "  Christ  is  all  and  in 
all."  After  the  sermon  we  feasted  by  faith  again 
upon  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord. 

Monday  morning  we  drove  out  to  see  the  famous 
Botanical  Garden.  Here  we  saw  every  species  of 
palm  indigenous  in  Ceylon  in  the  highest  perfection 
— cocoanut,  areeka,  kittul,.  talipat,  date,  palmyra, 
cabbage  and  travelers'  palm,  with  several  other  varie- 
ties. The  travelers'  palm  is  so  named  because  the 
leaf-stem  contains  a  generous  supply  of  water,  very 
pure  and  sweet,  which  the  traveler  sometimes  finds 
his  only  resource  in  "a  dry  and  thirsty  land."  The 
areeka  palm  bears  the  nut  so  extensively  used  for 
chewing.  The  kernel  is  very  hard.  A  piece  cf  it, 
with  a  quid  of  tobacco  and  a  small  quantity  of  lime, 
is  wrapped  up  in  betidjeaf  ano]  g-hswecj  by  men  and 

-m-n      .  v  discplpration  of  teeth  am     ■    t.Hf  p 
;&  by  tim  &ne  •->.  fs  ft]  ■      univsriftL 

_  -  *  * 


TEN  DAYS  IN  CEYLON. 


l79 


We  were  fortunate  in  finding  two  specimens  of  the 
talipat  palm  in  full  bloom.  This  tree  is  a  genuine  cen- 
tury plant,  growing  for  one  hundred  years  from  the 
seed;  then,  blooming,  and  bearing  seed,  it  dies.  The 
largest  one  we  saw  we  judged  to  be  not  less  than 
sixty  feet  in  height.  It  was  fairly  crowned  with  flow- 
ers, and  we  could  not  but  feel  a  sort  of  sympathy 
with  the  noble  tree,  that,  now  it  had  attained  its  high- 
est glory,  it  must  perish. 

Here,  too,  we  saw  some  of  the  finest  groves  of  bam- 
boo in  the  world.  There  are  also  a  number  of  noble 
banyans  in  the  grounds,  and  several  gigantic  speci- 
mens of  the  India-rubber  tree,  with  its  deeply-corru- 
gated trunk,  massive,  spreading  branches,  and  lateral 
roots,  ridging  themselves  up  ten  or  twelve  inches 
above  the  surface  of  the  ground.  The  grounds  are 
very  extensive,  and  space  forbids  the  further  enumer- 
ation of  the  endless  variety  of  trees  and  shrubs 
growing  here.  But  here  and  there  a  cluster  of  large, 
dead  trees  is  literally  covered  with  one  single  creeper, 
looking  like  the  tower  of  a  vast  cathedral.  The  effect 
is  very  fine. 

Returning,  we  took  breakfast  at  ten  o'clock  with 
the  Rev.  Robert  Tebbs,  the  resident  missionary.  In 
the  afternoon  he  drove  us  around  on  the  mountain- 
side overlooking  the  town  from  the  south.  Here  we 
had  many  very  fine  views,  and  saw  a  coffee-planta- 
tion. Kandy  is  in  the  heart  of  the  coffee  district. 
The  plantations  are  all  in  the  mountains,  and  on  the 
steep  mountain  slopes.  This  industry  has  been 
developed  by  English  enterprise  within  the  present 
century.  There  are,  even  now,  very  few  native  pro- 
prietors.    The  work  is  done  by  Tamil  coolies.     The- 


1 80  TEN  DAYS  IN  CEYLON. 

men  are  paid  from  eighteen  to  thirty-three  cents  a 
day  and  feed  themselves.  Women  and  children  get 
much  less.  The  planter  furnishes  them  quarters  to 
sleep  in,  which  are  usually  a  long  row  of  brick  build- 
ings divided  into  compartments  of  eight  feet  by  ten, 
each  of  which  serves  for  eight  persons.  These  labor- 
ers subsist  upon  rice  and  curry,  with  such  vegetables 
as  they  can  get.  The  planter  sells  to  each  hand  a 
peck  of  rice  a  week.  He  generally  makes  a  per  cent, 
on  his  rice,  which,  by  a  law  of  custom,  he  always 
sells  at  a  fixed  price.  Occasionally  rice  goes  up  in 
the  market,  and  then  he  supplies  it  to  his  coolies  at 
a  loss.  At  night  the  laborers  crowd  into  their  nar- 
row quarters,  spread  down  their  mats  on  the  dirt 
floor,  and,  with  a  coarse  blanket  to  draw  over  their 
naked  bodies  if  it  should  get  too  cool  before  day,  in 
this  rude  way  take  their  rest.  Eight  in  an  area  of 
eight  by  ten,  on  a  dirt-floor,  with  a  peck  of  rice  a 
week  each,  and  no  meat !  What  would  an  old-fash- 
ioned Southern  darkey  say  to  that  ?  These  particu- 
lars I  got  from  a  planter  at  the  hotel. 

The  coffee  crop  is  subject  to  blight  from  drought 
when  it  is  in  bloom,  but  when  the  yield  is  good  the 
profits  are  very  large.  Take  one  year  with  another 
the  thorough-going  planter  makes  money  fast. 
Many  millions  of  dollars  are  brought  into  the  Island 
annually  by  this  crop. 

We  visited,  also,  the  great  temple  of  Buddha,  but 
found  the  principal  apartment  closed.  The  grounds 
were  falling  into  decay,  and  the  temple  was  much 
neglected  until  the  present  very  amiable  Governor 
had  them  repaired  at  public  cost,  since  which  time 
the  priests  take   on   airs   and  keep  their  sacred  arti- 


TEN  DAYS  IN  CEYLON.  l8l 

cles  much  out  of  sight.  The  principal  one  is  a  tooth 
of  Buddha.  The  Catholics  asseverate  that  they  got 
the  real,  original  Buddha's  tooth  in  the  .old  Portu- 
guese times,  and  destroyed  it.  But  the  Buddhist 
priests,  equally  veracious  for  aught  I  know,  maintain 
that  they  have  the  genuine  article.  It  is  rarely  ex- 
hibited now,  but  at  certain  hours  the  jeweled  casket 
which  contains  it  may  be  seen  even  by  eyes  profane. 
These  unfortunate  eyes  of  mine,  however,  did  not 
rest  even  upon  the  casket. 

The  sacred  grounds  of  the  Hindoos  lie  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  street.  There  we  saw  the  bow- 
tree,  which  a  Hindoo  never  sees  but  that  he  per- 
forms an  act  of  devotion.  Besides  that  there  are 
some  very  simple  tablets  and  shrines,  but  nothing  of 
any  great  interest.  From  this  point  we  visited  the 
graves  of  the  ancient  kings,  which  are  on  an  emi- 
nence in  a  grove  of  the  sacred  bow-tree,  one  of 
which  seems  to  have  been  planted  at  each  grave. 
But  the  monuments  were  never  very  imposing,  and 
all  are  now  in  a  state  of  hopeless  decay.  Near 
this  is  the  Mohammedan  mosque,  a  neat  but  not 
pretentious  building.  The  Mahommedans  of  Ceylon 
are  called  Moormen. 

They  are  understood  to  be  of  Moorish  origin. 
There  are  .171,000  of  them.  They  are  engaged 
largely  in  mercantile  pursuits,  and  are  shrewd  and 
unscrupulous.  They  are  generally  prosperous,  and 
are  called  the  "Jews  of  Ceylon."  They  keep  them- 
selves as  distinct  from  all  other  peoples  as  the  Jews 
of  Europe  and  America. 

In  the  evening  there  was  a  farewall  tea-meeting 
given  to  Mr.  Baugh  in  the  school-building.     It  was  a 


I  82  TEN  DAYS  IN  CEYLON. 

rich  occasion.  Mr.  Nicholson  presided  with  fine  tact. 
The  place  of  honor  was  reserved,  of  course,  for  the 
guest,  Mr.  Baugh.  The  next  highest  seats  were 
given  to  the  American  visitors.  After  tea  had  been 
served  and  prayer  offered  there  was  a  little  singing 
and  much  speaking.  All  hearts  were  full.  Mr. 
Baugh  had  once  been  their  pastor,  and  the  great 
prosperity  of  the  Church  in  Kandy  had  dated  from 
his  term.  To  his  energy  they  were  indebted  for  their 
beautiful  chapel.  Many  of  them  had  been  converted 
under  his  ministry.  He  had  been  the  friend  of  all. 
You  can  imagine  how  full  of  heart  this  farewell- 
meeting  was.  The  speaking  of  the  occasion  was 
choice.  Our  friend  Eaton  was  very  happy.  My 
traveling-companion  delivered  himself  with  first-rate 
effect,  and  I  brought  up  the  rear. 

On  Tuesday  morning,  at  J  o'clock,  Ave  were  off 
again  by  the  train  for  Colombo,  accompanied  by  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Baugh.  Near  the  city  Mr.  Baugh  pointed 
out  the  place  on  a  mountain  where  formerly,  and 
perhaps  within  this  century,  human  sacrifices  had 
been  offered  to  the  devil.  Once  a  year  two  of  the 
most  beautiful  girls  were  selected,  of  the  age  of  four- 
teen years,  bound  hand  and  foot,  carried  to  the  sum- 
mit of  the  mountain  and  tied  to  a  stake,  just  at  night- 
fall. Horrid,  diabolical  rites  were  performed  around 
them,  devoting  them  to  the  devil,  that  his  malignity 
might  be  appeased  for  the  ensuing  year,  and  at  mid- 
night they  were  left  alone.  They  were  always  found 
dead  in  the  morning.  They  died,  no  doubt,  from 
the  awful  fright  they  were  subjected  to.  At  length, 
early  in  the  present  century,  one  of  the  victims  was 
found   alive   in   the   morning.      The    people    could 


TEN  DAYS  IN  CEYLON.  I  S3 

scarcely  believe  their  senses.  "  Ah,"  said  the  girl, 
in  a  happy  voice,  ''you  did  not  know  me,  and  I  did 
not  tell  you  who  I  was.  I  knew  the  devil  could  not 
hurt  me,  for  I  am  a  follower  of  Jesus.  I  prayed  to 
him,  and  I  knew  he  would  preserve  me."  The  hor- 
rible sacrifice  has  never  been  repeated. 

But  devil-worship  is  still  prevalent  among  the 
heathen.  It  does  not  belong  to  Buddhism,  as  such, 
but  the  Buddhists  of  Ceylon  are  all  devil-worshipers, 
besides  being  Buddhists.  All  sickness  is  believed  to 
be  caused  by  the  Evil  One.  A  "devil-priest"  is 
called.  The  people  collect  about  the  house  where 
the  sick  man  is.  Ceremonies  begin  at  dark  and  run 
through  the  whole  night.  The  tom-tom,  a  rude 
drum,  is  beaten  all  night.  The  priest  dances  in  a 
frightful  mask.  The  devil  is  incessantly  invoked  and 
appealed  to,  to  release  the  victim.  Sometimes  the 
priest  tries  his  wit  on  his  Satanic  Majesty,  and  if  he 
is  gifted  in  that  way  will  set  the  spectators  in  a  roar 
of  laughter  occasionally.  So  passes  the  livelong 
night,  and  at  dawn  an  effigy  of  the  patient  is  taken 
out  of  the  house  and  buried,  whereby  the  devil  is 
supposed  to  be  deceived,  and  leave  the  place.  Does 
the  patient  recover?  Sometimes  he  does,  sometimes 
he  does  not,  of  course.  Instances  of  recovery  are 
sufficiently  common  to  keep  the  remedy  in  credit. 
No  doubt  the  priests  might  fill  an  almanac  with  cer- 
tificates every  year. 

At  the  depot  in  Colombo  we  found  a  note  from 

Mr.  Scott,  inviting  us  to  his  house,  where  we  found  a 

delightful    Methodist   home   for  two   days.     In   the 

afternoon  wq  drov^  out  to  Cotta,  five  tnil<  s,  with  the 

S.  U.  Wilkin,    r'rindpiii   pf   VvVsJry    College,   to 


1 84  TEN  DAYS  IN  CEYLON. 

visit  a  school  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  un- 
der the  care  of  the  Rev.  R.  T.  Dowbiggin.  Mrs. 
Dowbiggin  also  has  a  school  for  girls  at  the  same 
place.  Our  reception  was  cordial.  We  were  in  quest 
of  information  as  to  the  missionary  methods  of  this 
truly  evangelical  Society  of  the  Church  of  England. 
Every  thing  we  saw  and  heard  gratified  us.  Every 
thing  is  thoroughly  Christian,  and  the  seed  of  eternal 
life  is  sown  broadcast,  and  with  a  liberal  hand. 

The  next  morning  we  visited  Wesley  College  in 
company  with  Mr.  Scott.  It  has  a  large  patronage, 
and  is  the  chief  of  the  Wesleyan  schools  in  the  Island. 
We  visited  also,  on  the  same  premises,  the  printing- 
press  which  has  been  in  operation  here  for  more  than 
half  a  century.  In  addition  to  the  work  of  the  Mis- 
sion it  gets  sufficient  job-work  to  pay  all  expenses, 
and  a  little  more.  On  the  same  lot  is  the  first  church 
built  in  Asia  by  the  Wesleyans.  It  was  finished  in 
1818.  It  is  a  plain  but  spacious  building,  and  has, 
on  the  wall,  the  following  inscription  on  a  tablet.  It 
was  copied  for  me  by  one  of  the  native  preachers : 

"sacred  to  the  memory 

of 

"THE   LATE   REV.   THOMAS    COKE,    LL.D., 

of  the  University  of  Oxford, 

General  Superintendent  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Missions,  who  was  an  ardent  lover  of  immortal  souls, 
and  a  zealous  and  persevering  friend  and  advocate 
of  Christian  Missions  among  the  heathen.  By  his 
instrumentality,  liberality,  and  personal  exertion,  the 
Wesleyan  Methodist  Missions  were  introduced  and 
established    in    all    the    four    quarters   of  the  globe. 


TEN  DAYS  IN  CEYLON.  1 8^ 

Their  success  in  the  conversion  of  sinners  lay  nearest 
his  heart,  and  was  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  his  joy 
while  on  earth.  Thousands  of  real  converts  will  hail 
him  blessed  in  the  great  day ;  his  last  principal 
undertaking  was  the  introduction  of  this  Mission  to 
Asia.  For  this  purpose,  like  that  primitive  and  emi- 
nent missionary,  St.  Paul,  he  withstood  the  earnest 
entreaties  of  his  numerous  friends,  and,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  67  years,  he  left  his  native  and 
much-beloved  country,  under  the  express  sanction  of 
the  British  Government,  and  bearing  letters  testi- 
monial from  several  of  the  principal  characters  in  the 
State,  being  accompanied  by  six  other  missionaries 
— the  Revs.  Messrs.  Lynch,  Ault,  Erskine,  Harvard, 
Squance,  and  Clough — and  burning  with  fervent  zeal 
for  the  conversion  of  the  inhabitants  of  India,  he  was 
followed  by  the  tears  and  prayers  of  anxious  multi- 
tudes. His  constitution,  however,  sunk  under  the 
change  of  climate,  and  from  intense  application  to 
preparatory  studies,  he  died  on  the  voyage,  May  the 
3d,  1 8 14,  happy  in  that  Saviour  whom  he  had  so  suc- 
cessfully preached  to  others  ;  and  his  mortal  remains 
were  interred  at  sea,  in  lat.  2  deg.  29  min.  S.,  and 
long.  59  deg.  29  min.  E. 

"This  tablet,  inscribed  by  his  surviving  missionary 
companions  and  sons  in  the  ministry,  is  designed  as 
a  public  and  constant  memorial  of  their  unceasing 
respect,  affection,  and  reverence  for  his  person  and 
character. 

"August,  1816." 

"Our  fathers  chose  building-sites  wisely,"  said  Mr. 
Scott,  "and  this  has  been  a  great  advantage  to  us." 
No  doubt. 


I  86  TEN  DAYS  IN  CEYLON. 

After  that  we  visited  an  immense  establishment 
where  coffee  is  hulled,  cured,  and  prepared  for  mar- 
ket, and  where  cocoanut  oil  is  expressed.  But  I 
cannot  find  room  for  any  description.  Several  hun- 
dred hands  are  employed,  many  of  them  women. 
The  excellent  proprietors  are  brothers,  sons  of  a  Bap- 
tist missionary,  who  honor  their  father  by  a  consis- 
tent Christian  life. 

After  our  eleven-o'clock  breakfast,  we  rode  out 
eleven  miles,  to  Morotto.  Fifty  years  ago  this 
neighborhood  wras  noted  for  crime,  even  among  the 
heathen.  A  native  Wesleyan  preacher,  Silva  by 
name,  introduced  the  gospel  among  them.  The  word 
grew  mightily  and  prevailed.  With  Christianity 
came  cessation  of  crime,  and  habits  of  industry,  and 
now  Morotto  is  known  far  and  wide  for  the  good 
character  of  its  people,  and  its  artisans  have  become 
so  famous  as  to  be  in  request  in  all  parts  of  the 
Island.  Here  Mr.  Scott  had  made  a  special  appoint- 
ment for  us  to  preach.  By  invitation,  we  were  to 
take  tiffin  at  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Silva,  a  Singhalese 
lady,  who  is  an  earnest  Christian.  Her  son-in-law, 
a  native  physician,  whose  dress  was  a  compromise 
between  the  native  and  European  style,  received  us 
on  the  veranda.  The  house  is  an  elegant  one,  and 
would  be  so  considered  in  any  country.  I  was  quite 
amazed  to  find  such  signs  of  taste  and  luxury.  Mrs. 
Silva  was  dressed  in  the  best  style  of  native  costume, 
and  was  barefoot.  The  young  ladies  were  seated 
with  us  at  the  table,  richly  and  tastefully  dressed  in 
European  style.  The  native  pastor  was  present, 
also,  who  understood  English,  as,  indeed,  all  the 
preachers  do.     But  with  our  hostess  we  could  con- 


TEX  DAYS  IN  CEYLOX.  I  87 

verse  only  by  an  interpreter.  On  our  table  was  roast 
turkey,  with  other  meats,  and  abundance  of  vege- 
tables and  tropical  fruits. 

The  church  is  a  spacious  house,  built  by  the  native 
Society,  and  is  a  very  tasteful  structure.  An  alarm 
of  small-pox  prevented  many  from  attending",  yet 
the  house  was  full.  Mr.  Scott  opened  the  service, 
and  read  the  Lord's  message  to  the  Church  at 
Smyrna.  I  looked  abroad  upon  the  native  congre- 
gation, at  the  sight  of  which  I  could  have  shouted 
for  joy.  For  cleanliness,  good  behavior,  propriety 
of  dress,  and  intelligent  attention  to  the  word,  they 
would  compare  well  with  the  average  congregation 
in  America.  The  text  was,  "  Be  thou  faithful  unto 
death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life."  Topic, 
Fidelity  to  Christ,  and  its  reward.  It  was  inter- 
preted, sentence  by  sentence,  by  the  Rev.  D.  H. 
Pereira,  a  native.  I  made  no  effort  at  simplicity  of 
language,  but  used  some  words  which  a  mere  smat- 
terer  in  English  would  not  be  likely  to  understand. 
But  my  interpreter  was  never  at  a  loss,  and  Mr. 
Scott  assured  me  afterward  that  there  was  but  one 
inaccuracy  in  his  rendering  of  the  sermon.  After 
the  service,  we  rode  a  mile  to  see  another  fine  stone 
church  in  course  of  construction.  We  were  accom- 
panied by  the  pastor,  a  fine,  tall,  beautiful,  courtly, 
yet  simple-hearted,  earnest  young  man,  very  influen- 
tial among  his  people. 

Night  fell  upon  us  as  we  were  returning  to  Col- 
ombo. The  road  lay  among  cinnamon  groves,  and 
forests  of  palmyra  and  areeka  palm.  A  hallowed 
sense   of  the  love   of  Christ   filled  our  hearts.     We 


1 88  TEN  DAYS  IN  CEYLON. 

thought  of  Coke  and  his  companions,  and  exclaimed 
in  our  hearts,  "  What  hath  God  wrought  ?  " 

Yet  the  reader  will  be  disappointed  by  the  census. 
The  figures  do  not  foot  up  so  well  as  one  would 
desire.  Progress  is  steady,  and  in  an  advancing  ratio 
all  the  while,  of  late  years.  Hitherto  the  work  has 
been  largely  that  of  laying  the  foundation.  Now  the 
harvest  begins  to  be  gathered  in,  and  the  laborers 
are  full  of  hope  and  joy. 

The  whole  population  of  the  Island  is,  according 
to  the  official  census,  2,401,066.  Of  these  1,520,944 
are  Buddhists,  171,542  are  Mohammedans,  and  240,- 
049  are  Christians.  A  few  thousands  are  of  other 
faiths,  or  no  faith. 

Of  the  Christians,  184,399  are  Roman  Catholics, 
and  55,649  are  protestants.  This  disparity  in  favor 
of  the  Romanists  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
they  have  been  here  over  three  centuries,  and  the 
Protestants  less  than  one.  Indeed,  so  far  as  any 
effectual  work  among  the  natives  goes,  the  Protest- 
ants have  been  here  but  a  little  over  sixty  years. 
Within  that  time  they  have  made  much  more  rapid 
progress  than  the  other.  But  the  55,649  Protestants 
are  not  all  Church-members.  They  include  children, 
catechumens,  and  adherents. 

The  Wresleyans  claim  a  population  of  15,000,  but 
the  actual  membership  is  not  over  3,000,  including 
probationers.  The  rest  are  children  and  habitual 
attendants  upon  the  services,  including  all  who  look 
to  them  for  pastorial  service,  such  as  marrying  and 
burying  the  dead.  These  persons  publicly  avow 
themselves  believers  in  Christianity,  but  make  no 
profession  of  actual  conversion. 


CEYLON,  MADRAS,  CALCUTTA.  1 89 

But  there  are  other  important  statistics  to  be 
considered. 

There  are  1 1 1  Sunday-schools,  with  4,927  schol- 
ars; 162  day-schools,  with  8,967  scholars.  Habitual 
attendants  on  the  Wesleyan  services,  15,599. 

These  statistics  were  returned  in  1875.  The 
increase  in  the  last  two  years  has  been  considerable, 
so  that,  probably,  ten  per  cent,  ought  to  be  added. 
The  membership  is,  probably,  by  this  time,  3,200. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

CEYLON,   MADRAS,   CALCUTTA. 

I  HAVE  SAID  that  Protestant  missionary- 
work,  in  Ceylon,  dated  back  only  some  sixty 
years.  It  is  true  that  in  the  time  of  the  Dutch 
occupancy  a  great  many  of  the  natives  were  bap- 
tized. But  they  were  not  converted  in  any  proper 
sense  of  the  word.  The  Government  offered  its 
employments  only  to  such  as  had  been  baptized, 
and  under  this  stimulus  the  wrork  went  on  bravely. 
But  when  the  English  came  in  they  offered  no  such 
advantage  to  converts,  and  the  baptized  relapsed 
almost  to  a  man.     It  is  true,  therefore,  that  the  work 


1 90  CEYLON,  MADRAS,  CALCUTTA. 

of  evangelization   did  not  really  begin   until   within 
this  century. 

One  significant  fact  I  learned  is  this  :  The  mission- 
aries do  not  now  have  as  many  heathen  hearers  in 
their  congregations  as  formerly.  When  the  gospel 
was  first  preached  the  Buddhists  were  very  friendly, 
and  many  of  them  seemed  to  give  a  certain  credence 
to  the  word.  It  soon  became  evident  that  they 
looked  upon  the  new  religion  introduced  by  Euro- 
peans as  probably  true,  and  thought  it  might  be  well 
to  take  it  in  addition  to  the  faith  they  already  held. 
For  one  man  to  hold  two  or  three  forms  of  religion 
is  no  new  thing  in  heathenism.  But  when  the  mis- 
sionaries began  to  attack  Buddhism,  and  they  came 
to  understand  that  Christ  could  admit  no  participant 
of  his  throne,  an  active  hostility  was  aroused,  so  that 
now  the  priests  do  all  in  their  power  to  prevent  their 
followers  from  attending  upon  any  place  of  Christian 
worship.  The  lines  are  drawn — the  antagonism  is 
denned.  Christ  brings  to  Buddhism  not  peace,  but 
the  sword,  and  the  priest  finds  that  he  must  measure 
weapons  with  the  preacher.  So,  the  priests  have 
gone  to  preaching  Buddhism,  and  are  actually  pro- 
ducing- a  controversial  literature.  It  was  told  me 
that  they  have  translated  Bishop  Colenso's  work  on 
the  Pentateuch  into  Singhalese  and  published  it,  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  discrediting  the  Christian  faith. 

I  met  with  one  instance  of  the  disposition  some- 
times found  among  the  heathen  to  tolerate  Chris- 
tianity. Visiting  a  Brahman  temple,  at  Madras, 
quite  a  crowd  of  natives  collected  about  us,  many  of 
whom  spoke  English  very  well.  I  overheard  one,  in 
a  group  near   me,  say :    "  O  yes,  Christianity  is   very 


CEYLON,  MADRAS,  CALCUTTA.  I9I 

good — Christ   was   probably  one  of  the  incarnations 
of  Vishnu." 

But  I  must  not  get  away  from  Ceylon  so  sud- 
denly. 

The  work  of  the  Wesleyans  there  is  arranged 
under  two  Districts,  one  in  the  north,  among  the 
Tamils,  and  one  in  the  south,  among  the  Singhalese, 
chiefly.  The  Singhalese  are  the  aboriginal  inhabit- 
ants of  the  island,  but  the  northern  part  of  it  was 
taken  possession  of  by  Tamil  emigrants,  or  rather 
invaders  from  the  continent,  some  centuries  ago. 
About  half  of  the  country  is  still  populated  chiefly  by 
them.  There  is  little  or  no  intermarriage  between  the 
two  peoples.  Wherever  there  is  a  demand  for  labor, 
at  living  wages,  the  Tamil  coolies  may  be  found.  In 
all  the  cities  of  Ceylon  and  of  the  Straits  they 
abound.  Just  at  this  time  the  famine  on  the  conti- 
nent has  caused  a  new  flood  of  them  to  go  abroad. 
In  the  Madras  Presidency  there  are  about  15,000,000 
of  them. 

It  is  evident  that  the  eradication  of  heathenism 
from  Ceylon  is  not  the  work  of  a  day.  But  the  work 
is  going  on.  Christian  schools  have  a  large  and  in- 
creasing patronage,  and  the  infiltration  of  Christian 
thought  into  the  popular  mind  is  beginning  to  satu- 
rate it,  while  scientific  truth,  obtaining  more  and 
more,  puts  to  shame  the  silly  superstitions  which  are 
the  very  groundwork  of  Buddhistic  belief.  I  am 
told  that  it  is  not  an  unusual  thing  for  a  man  to  say, 
"  We  cannot  embrace  your  religion,  but  our  children 
will."  Many  of  them  seem  to  feel  the  power  of 
Christ's  coming.  They  see  that  the  advance  of 
Christian  ideas  is  irresistible.      Their  minds  are  ad- 


I92  CEYLON,  MADRAS,  CALCUTTA. 

justed  to  the  triumph  of  Christ  as  to  a  destiny,  and 
this  feeling  facilitates  Christian  work,  and  must 
hasten  the  result. 

From  Colombo  we  returned  to  Galle  by  stage, 
seventy-two  miles.  Our  horses  were  miserably  poor, 
but  wicked  fellows,  and  were  changed  every  six 
miles.  One  had  bitten  two  men  to  death,  some 
played  the  wild  with  their  heels,  and  one  or  two  did 
their  best  to  run  away;  but,  fortunately,  they  were 
nothing  but  skin  and  bone.  The  trouble  is,  they  are 
of  the  masculine  gender,  unmitigated.  About  noon 
our  front  axle  broke,  and  down  we  came,  but  fortu- 
nately we  were  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the 
breakfast-station,  where  another  coach  could  be  had. 
The  breakfast-house  was  a  very  pleasant  one,  and 
the  fare  good.  On  the  wall  were  suspended  Scrip- 
ture-quotations in  large  type.  When  we  started 
again,  we  found  that  our  nezv  coach  was  an  old  one, 
with  a  very  infirm  wheel.  All  predicted  a  collapse, 
except  me.  Some  of  our  passengers  killed  a  snake, 
and  gave  chase  to  two  cobrella  goyas.  They  are  of 
the  lizard  species,  about  six  feet  in  length,  most  of 
which  is  tail.  Their  speed,  under  chase,  amused  us. 
They,  and  the  excitement  about  the  loose-jointed 
wheel,  rendered  the  journey  sufficiently  spicy.  But 
we  got  in  on  time,  having  made  the  trip  in  eleven 
hours,  including  one  hour  for  breakfast — seventy-two 
measured  miles  in  ten  hours  of  actual  traveling  time. 

Europeans  here  take  every  precaution  against  the 
scorching  rays  of  the  sun,  wearing  pith  hats,  and 
never  venturing  out  without  an  umbrella;  but  the 
natives  go  naked,  except  a  strip  about  the  hips. 
This  refers  to  the  coolies.     But  all  classes  go  bare- 


CEYLON,  MADRAS,   CALCUTTA. 


193 


headed,  except  that  a  good  many  wear  turbans.  I 
have  seen  these  naked  men  all  day  in  their  boats, 
harvesting  rice,  standing  in  the  water,  fishing,  or 
wading  in  shallow  pools  hour  after  hour  to  get  up 
the  little   mollusca    found   at  the   bottom,  for  food. 


NATIVE  WILD  MAN  OF  CEYLON. 


Skin  and  brain,  they  seem  to  be  absolutely  sun-proof. 
Our  steamer  was  a  little  late,  so  that  we  had  three 
days  at  Galle.  Having  already  seen  the  country 
around,  and  the  native  shops,  the  jugglers  and  the 
snake-charmers,  the  time  passed  a  little  heavily.  By 
the  way,  the  cobra  in  the  hands  of  the  charmer  is  an 


194  CEYLON,  MADRAS,  CALCUTTA. 

interesting  object.  His  fangs  are  extracted,  and  he 
seems  to  be  in  fear  of  his  keeper,  but  when  he  be- 
comes angry  and  elevates  his  crest  and  spreads  his 
neck,  he  does  look  superb.  But  all  serpents,  in  their 
native  state,  fly  from  the  face  of  man,  and  instances 
of  a  fatal  bite  are  very  rare  indeed.  The  cobra  never 
attacks,  unless  he  finds  himself  in  close  quarters. 

Sunday  morning  I  preached  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  The  house  was  built  by  the  Dutch,  and  is 
a  venerable  pile  in  the  form  of  a  cross.  The  little 
octagonal  pulpit,  high  up  toward  the  ceiling,  with 
just  room  for  one  man,  stands  against  one  angle  of 
the  cross.  The  preacher  takes  the  congregation 
corner-wise,  having,  also,  a  sounding-board  over  his 
head.  I  met  the  pastor  in  the  vestry.  He  offered 
me  a  gown.  I  begged  to  be  excused.  When  I 
entered  the  auditorium  and  saw  the  pulpit,  my  heart 
misgave  me.  To  stand  in  a  barrel,  eight  feet  above 
the  floor,  and  preach  diagonally  at  the  people, 
seemed  odd  enough.  But  I  ascended  to  my  perch 
and  did  the  best  I  could,  having,  indeed,  better  lib- 
erty than  I  expected.  But  let  my  friends  fancy  me 
in  such  a  situation  ! 

After  service  we  went  aboard  the  Australia,  bound 
for  Calcutta.  Mr.  Baugh  and  his  family  were  our 
traveling  companions. 

Early  Wednesday  morning  we  came  to  anchor  off 
Madras.  I  do  not  say  in  the  harbor  of  Madras,  for 
there  is  no  harbor.  I  suppose  there  is  not  to  be 
found  a  worse  landing  for  any  large  city  in  the  world. 
Even  in  the  quietest  weather  the  surf  is  ugly,  and 
when  the  sea  is  rough  it  is  fearful.  A  peculiar  boat 
is  made  here  to  meet  the  emergency.     It  is  of  the 


CEYLON,  MADRAS,  CALCUTTA.  1 95 

length  of  a  large  skiff,  but  broader  and  much  deeper. 
There  is  not  a  nail  in  it,  but  the  thin  planks  of  which 
it  is  made  are  sewed  together — yes,  literally  sewed 
together — with  very  strong  twine.  Having  a  day  to 
visit  the  city,  we  struck  a  bargain  with  the  owner  of 
a  massoola — such  is  the  name  of  the  boat.  He  first 
asked  us  seven  rupees  each,  but  was  glad,  at  last,  to 
take  one.  There  were  ten  naked  rowers.  Coming 
near  the  shore,  they  waited  for  a  big  wave,  and  then 
pulled  with  all  their  might.  We  were  beached  near 
high-breaker  mark.  Two  men  instantly  presented 
themselves  before  me.  I  stood  on  the  edge  of  the 
boat,  as  high  as  their  shoulders,  dropped  myself  into 
their  arms,  and  was  borne  to  the  dry  land.  No  boat 
having  its  timbers  fastened  together  with  nails  would 
stand  this  beaching,  in  a  heavy  surf,  half-a-dozen 
times.  It  would  go  to  pieces  directly.  But  there  is 
a  measure  of  flexibility  in  the  seams  of  the  massoola 
which  enables  it  to  bear  the  strain. 

There  is  another  little  craft  here  called  the  cata- 
maran, used  by  the  natives  for  fishing  and  other  pur- 
poses, which  is  the  rudest  structure  we  have  seen 
anywhere.  It  is  made  simply  of  four  logs  fastened 
together.  The  two  on  the  outside  are  half  their 
diameter  higher  than  the  two  central  ones.  The 
front-end  has  something  of  a  boat-like  shape.  The 
rower  sits  down,  holding  his  oar  by  both  hands  in 
the  center,  and  uses  it  with  a  stroke,  first  with  one 
end  on  one  side,  and  then  with  the  other  end  on  the 
other  side.  The  spray  dashes  upon  him  ;  sometimes 
the  surf  breaks  over  him ;  but  what  cares  he  ?  The 
catamaran  still   floats — nothing  can  sink   it.     It  will 


I96  CEYLON,  MADRAS,  CALCUTTA. 

live  in  any  sea.     As  for  a  wetting,  this  naked   boat- 
man, in  this  tropical  climate,  rather  enjoys  it. 

In  company  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Baugh  we  drove  to 
the  Wesleyan  Mission-house.  Mr.  Stephenson,  the 
Chairman  of  the  District,  received  us  most  cordially. 
He  showed  us  a  girls'-school  in  which  the  children 
are  all  of  low-caste  families,  and  another  in  which 
they  are  all  high-caste.  In  addition  to  the  jewels  in 
the  ears  and  on  the  outside  of  the  nostrils,  as  in  Cey- 
lon and  the  Straits,  they  had  them  suspended  also 
from  the  cartilage  that  divides  the  nostrils.  Three 
pieces  of  jewelry  vibrating  at  the  end  of  the  nose, 
with  every  movement  of  the  head,  did  look  odd 
enough.  But  generally  those  on  the  outside  of  the 
nostrils  are  shaDed  like  a  button,  and  lie  against  the 
side  of  the  nose,  while  the  middle  one  is  a  ring,  dan-  . 
gling  upon  the  upper  lip.  Come  to  India,  my  coun- 
trywomen, and  learn  how  to  wear  jewelry  !  You 
ought  to  be  ashamed  of  yourselves  to  have  only  one 
hole  bored  in  each  ear.  When  you  pretend  to  do 
any  thing,  do  it.  I  have  seen  a  woman  with  thirty- 
two  in  her  ears  and  nose. 

In  the  boys'-school  individuals  of  all  castes  are 
mingled  together.  A  few  years  ago  this  could  not 
be  done.  But  the  missionaries  would  never  consent 
to  exclude  low-caste  boys,  and  at  last  the  Brahmans 
began  to  come  and  occupy  separate  forms ;  in  which 
case  they  would  go  right  away,  in  the  evening,  and 
wash  their  clothes — no  great  job,  by  the  way.  But 
now  they  come  freely,  sit  in  the  same  forms,  and  the 
boys  of  the  highest  caste  touch  those  of  the  lowest 
with  impunity.     Yet  the  idea  of  caste  is  not   eradi- 


CEYLON,   MADRAS,  CALCUTTA.  1 97 

cated.     Individuals    of  different   castes   never  inter- 
marry now  any  more  than  formerly. 

I  was  invited  to  address  the  boys  of  the  highest 
class.  They  were  well-grown,  and  most  of  them 
fine-looking  fellows.  They  knew  very  well  the 
geography  of  the  United  States  of.  America,  in  a 
general  way — and  some  of  them  were  evidently  grat- 
ified to  let  me  know  that  they  knew  where  St.  Louis 
was,  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  on  the  banks  of  the 
great  Mississippi  river.  I  found  a  great  many  intel- 
ligent men  wanting  in  an  accurate  knowledge  of 
geography.  Several  of  the  English  preachers  have 
introduced  us  as  ministers  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  from 
South  America.  But  we  did  not  venture  to  put  on 
airs,  inasmuch  as  we  find  that  we  ourselves  do  not 
k  ]  >w  every  thing. 

In  this  highest  class,  in  which  there  were  some 
twenty-five  young  men,  five  were  Christians,  five 
Brahmans,  some  Mohammedans,  and  the  rest — I 
know  not  what.  The  Scripture-lesson  of  the  day 
was  the  temptation  of  Christ.  Every  class  has  one 
hour  a  day  devoted  to  the  study  of  Holy  Scripture. 
Yet  only  a  very  few  of  them  are  Christians,  and,  up 
to  this  date,  only  a  few  who  have  gone  through  the 
school  have  been  converted.  Many  of  the  teachers 
are  heathen,  it  being  impossible  to  find  a  sufficient 
number  of  educated  Christian  natives  to  fill  the 
places.  In  this  respect  Ceylon  has  a  great  advan- 
tage, all  the  native  teachers  in  the  Mission-schools 
being  Christians. 

Many  of  the  patrons  of  these  Mission-schools  are 
bitterly  opposed  to  Christianity.  They  send  their 
sons  only  on  account  of   the  superior   educational 


I98  CEYLON,  MADRAS,  CALCUTTA. 

advantages  which  they  are  supposed  to  afford.  If 
they  supposed  their  boys  were  in  danger  of  being 
converted  they  would  withdraw  them  at  once.  In 
fact,  the  school  was  entirely  broken  up  at  one  time 
by  the  conversion  of  several  of  the  pupils.  Still 
they  do  not  object  to  the  study  of  the  Bible  as  a 
text-book.  It  is  the  Sacred  Book  of  the  Western 
people,  and  to  know  what  it  teaches  is  very  well,  a 
necessary  part,  indeed,  of  a  complete  education. 

The  English  language  is  taught  in  all  these 
schools,  and  the  advanced  classes  understand  it  very 
well.  This  opens  all  the  treasures  of  Christian 
knowledge,  stored  in  that  language,  to  them.  There 
is  a  great  advantage  in  this,  but  also,  sometimes,  a 
disadvantage  A  young  man,  who  was  just  ready 
to  be  baptized,  got  hold  of  Channing's  works,  the 
reading  of  which  loosened  him  from  all  his  moor- 
ings. What  became  of  him  I  know  not,  but  he 
drifted  azvay  from  Christ. 

There  is  an  institution  here  of  the  highest  grade 
known  in  the  country,  under  the  immediate  control 
of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  but  supported  and 
contributed  to  by  all  the  Missions  in  Madras.  It  is 
called  the  Christian  College.  Our  visit  to  it  was 
hasty,  but  we  saw  enough  to  show  a  very  vigorous 
management.  There  is  a  very  large  school  of  lower 
grade  in  the  same  building.  The  Free  Church  has 
a  grand  piece  of  property  in  the  heart  of  the  city. 
On  the  corner  is  a  large  church,  where  the  preaching 
is  to  the  heathen  exclusively.  Next  to  that  is  the 
church  where  Europeans  and  native  converts  assem- 
ble. Next  to  that  again  is  the  very  spacious  school 
and  college  building.     The  matriculates  in  both  de- 


CEYLON,  MADRAS,  CALCUTTA.  jqq 

partments   are   over   1,000.      The   actual  attendance 
the  day  we  were  there  was  979. 

But  the  fruits  of  missionary  labor  in  Madras  have 
been  small.  Fruits,  I  mean,  as  they  appear  in  actual 
conversions.  In  some  respects,  no  doubt,  results 
have  been  very  great.  On  this  point  I  may  have 
more  to  say  after  seeing  more  of  India. 

In  the  course  of  the  day  we  visited  a  Brahman 
temple,  having  been  forewarned  that  we  would  see 
only  a  small  one,  there  being  no  large  temple  in 
Madras.  But,  really,  after  our  observation  of  Budd- 
hist, Tauist,  and  Sintoo  temples,  in  China  and  Japan, 
we  should  have  called  this  a  very  large  one.  It  is 
built  of  stone,  and  over  the  gate-ways  is  a  tower  of 
symmetrical  design,  very  elaborately  ornamented 
with  carvings.  In  front  is  a  long  portico,  extending 
out  at  right  angles  from  the  main  building,  the  roof 
resting  on  monolith  pillars,  about  twenty-five  feet 
high,  I  should  say.  These  pillars  seem  to  be  of 
granite,  and  each  one  has  several  images  carved 
upon  it  in  rather  bold  relief.  In  front  of  this  is  a 
square,  artificial  lake  of  stagnant  water,  about,  say, 
one  hundred  yards  in  diameter.  A  stone  wall,  in 
the  form  of  steps,  descending  to  the  water's  edge, 
incloses  it  on  all  sides.  In  the  center  is  a  circular 
structure — a  roof  resting  on  columns.  All  this  is  a 
part  of  the  temple  grounds.  Around  the  edges  of 
the  lake  was  a  lively  scene  of  clothes-washing,  after 
the  universal  Oriental  style,  the  washerwoman,  or 
man,  standing  in  the  water  into  which  he  dips  the 
garment,  and,  elevating  it  high  into  the  air,  threshes 
it  upon  the  rock.  Buttons  stand  a  poor  chance — 
and  so   does   lint,   for  that  matter.      We    saw    one 


200  CEYLON,  MADRAS,  CALCUTTA. 

new  thing  here — a  woman  standing  in  the  water 
washing  the  loose  garments  she  had  on,  keeping  one 
part  about  her  person  while  she  scoured  the  other. 

People  here  indicate  their  faith  by  wearing  a  mark 
in  the  forehead.  It  is  put  on  in  chalk-dust,  generally 
white,  but  sometimes  colored.  We  saw  the  pigment 
exposed  for  sale  in  the  temple  portico.  Sometimes 
it  is  a  broad  band  across  the  forehead,  sometimes  a 
spot  just  above  the  base  of  the  nose,  sometimes  a 
trident  extending  upward  from  the  base  of  the  nose, 
the  outer  lines  white  and  the  central  one  brown. 

This  trident  is  worn  by  Brahmans,  and  there  are 
two  forms  of  it.  In  one  form  the  lower  extremity  of 
the  figure  makes  a  regular  curve,  like  a  horse-shoe; 
in  the  other  a  little  point  extends  downward  from 
the  extremity.  These  different  forms  represent  dif- 
ferences of  doctrine — slight,  very  slight,  differences,  a 
venerable  wearer  of  the  horse-shoe  told  us  ;  but  when 
the  two  parties  meet  in  the  temple  they  sometimes 
make  the  walls  resound  with  the  vigor  of  their  angry 
reproaches  and  recriminations. 

Under  a  shed,  near  by,  was  a  huge  car,  brought 
out  twice  a  year  in  the  processions,  and  drawn  by 
men.  I  asked  our  venerable  friend  of  the  orthodox 
trident  how  many  men  were  required  to  draw  it.  He 
replied  that  it  had  to  be  started  by  powerful  levers, 
but,  once  started,  five  or  six  hundred  men  could  keep 
it  moving  on  a  horizontal  surface.  It  is  surmounted 
by  a  tower,  ornamented  with  much  barbaric  carving. 
The  wheels  are  of  wood,  solid,  five  feet  high,  and,  at 
least,  eight  or  ten  inches  thick. 

Near  by  stood  the  sacred  elephant,  belonging  to 
the  temple,  for  use  in  the  great  processions.     He  is 


CEYLON,  MADRAS,   CALCUTTA.  201 

of  a  different  species  from  any  I  ever  saw  in  a  men- 
agerie— taller,  but  not  so  heavy,  the  forehead,  also, 
retreating  more.  He  seemed  to  be  thin  in  flesh. 
But  he  is  a  high-caste  elephant,  as  the  chalk-dust 
daub  on  his  forehead  attests.  A  young  fellow 
mounted  him  for  our  delectation.  The  great,  docile 
creature,  at  command,  lifted  his  rider  on  his  fore-leg, 
which  he  drew  up  to  a  right  angle  with  his  body,  or 
nearly  so,  and  from  which  the  boy  scrambled  up 
somehow.  Seated  on  the  neck  of  the  monster,  he 
commanded  him  to  salute  us — "  salaam."  This  was 
uttered  in  a  loud  voice.  His  elephantship  looked  at 
us  as  if  he  knew  who  was  meant,  elevated  his  trunk 
above  his  head,  and  gave  a  great,  good-natured 
grunt,  with  which  we  were  perfectly  satisfied. 

In  the  absence  of  the  proper  functionary  to  admit 
us  to  the  interior  of  the  temple,  we  were  unable  to 
enter.  But,  doubtless,  we  shall  enjoy  many  oppor- 
nities  of  the  sort. 

There  was  a  great  famine  in  the  Madras  Presi- 
dency. Two  partial  failures  of  the  rice-crop  were  fol- 
lowed by  a  drought  which  threatened  a  total  failure 
of  the  third.  The  distress  was  very  great.  Under 
British  rule,  the  country,  never  being  devastated 
by  petty  wars,  has  become  over-populous.  There 
is  only  one  cereal  produced,  and  when  that  fails 
the  crowded  millions  must  suffer.  Government 
is  doing  all  it  can  to  meet  the  emergency,  by 
importing  rice  from  Burmah  and  Siam,  and,  I 
believe,  from  Cochin  China.  Ships  bring  it  faster 
than  the  railroads  can  carry  it  to  the  interior,  It  lies 
in  sacks  on  the  beach,  in  immense  banks.  But,  after 
all,  with  so  many  millions  on  the  brink  of  starvation^ 


202  CEYLON,  MADRAS,  CALCUTTA. 

the  supply  is  inadequate,  and,  if  this  crop  does  fail 
utterly,  many  must  perish.  Cholera  and  small-pox 
were  abroad,  adding  their  terrors  to  the  great  calam- 
ity, so  that  the  people  were  in  a  pitiable  case. 

The  famine  extended  over  the  whole  of  the  lower 
Carnatic  and  Mysore.  Bengal  and  the  northern 
provinces  had  good  crops,  and  are  having  abundant 
rains  again  this  season. 

There  is  a  populous  Chinese  cemetery  here,  which 
indicates  a  period  of  Chinese  immigration  and  resi- 
dence in  large  numbers.  But,  latterly,  they  have 
abandoned  the  place,  I  know  not  why.  It  may  be 
pleasant  to  our  California  friends  to  know  that  they 
do  not  stay  forever  in  every  place  to  which  they 
may  swarm. 

From  Madras  to  Calcutta  we  had  a  perfectly 
smooth  sea,  which  was  to  be  expected  at  this  season 
of  the  year;  but  about  two  weeks  before  there  had 
been  a  cyclone  out  of  season.  We  accepted  our 
exemption  as  a  continued  manifestation  of  the  good- 
ness of  God.  It  can  never  be  amiss  to  realize  our 
dependence,  and  to  respond  to  the  tokens  of  his 
love. 

We  had  indulged  the  hope  of  spending  Sunday  in 
Calcutta,  but  our  steamer  was  delayed  so  long,  both 
at  Galle  and  Madras,  discharging  an  unusually  heavy 
cargo,  that  it  was  five  o'clock  Sunday  evening  before 
we  cast  anchor  in  the  Hooghly  river,  so  that  the 
Lord's  day  was  spent  at  sea  again.  The  Rev.  Geo. 
Baugh  read  the  English  Church-service,  after  which 
I  preached  a  rather  long  sermon,  on  the  parable  of 
the  prodigal  Son,  arid  H.-  dosed,  We-  felt  that;  the 
clay  was  riot  Wasted. 


CEYLON,  MADRAS,  CALCUTTA.  203 

Calcutta  is  situated  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Hooghly  river,  which  is  the  westernmost  of  the 
channels  through  which  the  Ganges  reaches  the  Bay 
of  Bengal.  There  are  two  of  these  principal  chan- 
nels, and  the  vast  alluvial  region  at  the  head  of  the 
Bay  is  checked  with  smaller  ones.  These  lowlands 
are  but  slightly  elevated  above  the  sea-level.  In 
November  last  a  strong  north  wind,  which  continued 
for  several  days,  drove  the  waters  of  the  Bay  sea- 
ward, when  suddenly  a  cyclone,  of  unusual  violence, 
coming  from  the  south,  massed  the  waters  so  that,  as 
they  swept  up  along  the  narrowing  Bay,  they  rose  to 
such  a  height  as  to  sweep  inland  for  many  miles. 
These  lowlands  are  very  productive,  and  thickly  in- 
habited, and  the  estimated  loss  of  life  is  over  200,- 
OOO.  A  similar  storm  occurred  about  half  a  century 
ago,  and  the  loss  of  life  at  that  time  was  estimated  at 
300,000. 

Just  before  sunset  we  went  ashore  in  a  native  boat, 
landing  at  the  Princeps  Ghat,  which  is  an  ornamental 
gate  with  Corinthian  columns,  rather  an  imposing 
structure,  erected  in  honor  of  some  great  English- 
man. Either  at  this  or  another  Ghat,  I  am  not  sure 
which,  the  Viceroys,  the  distinguished  military  men, 
and  Lords  Bishops,  always  land,  being  received  by  a 
grand  salute  from  the  guns  of  Fort  William. 

We  landed  on  a  shelving  bank,  and  had  to  be 
carried  to  the  dry  land  by  two  coolies,  who  offered 
us  a  sort  of  hand-barrow  to  sit  on.  We  had  a  ride 
of  about  two  miles  to  the  Great  Eastern  Hotel.  The 
greater  part  of  the  drive  was  by  the  Strand  Road, 
with  the  river  and  shipping  on  our  left,  and  Fort 
William  and  other  open  grounds  on  our  right.     The 


204  CEYLON,  MADRAS,  CALCUTTA. 

street  is  a  beautiful  one,  and  as  we  drove  along  we 
saw  it  sprinkled  after  a  novel  fashion.  A  number  of 
men  were  employed,  each  one  having  a  dressed 
sheep's  skin,  sewed  up  except  at  the  neck.  These, 
filled  with  water,  showed  the  outlines  of  the  sheep, 
and  were  suspended  from  the  bearer's  neck  by  a 
strap  just  long  enough  to  let  it  rest  on  the  left  hip, 
while  the  neck  was  grasped  by  his  right  hand. 
Giving  a  jerk  by  a  movement  of  his  whole  body,  he 
allowed  the  water  to  spurt  through  his  fingers,  and 
the  jet  thus  produced  was  sprinkled  over  a  consider- 
able surface.  Human  muscle  here,  as  in  China,  costs 
but  little,  and  I  suppose  this  is  as  cheap  a  mode  of 
watering  the  streets  as  any  other. 

We  found  the  Great  Eastern  Hotel  crowded,  but 
got  very  good  quarters  at  the  Hotel  de  France. 
After  dinner,  at  7  p.  M.,  we  walked  out,  and  seeing  a 
church  well-lighted,  determined  to  go  in.  We  in- 
stantly  discovered  by  the  hymn-book  that  we  were 
among  our  brethren  of  the  M.  E.  Church.  This  was 
the  closing  one  of  a  series  of  special  services.  The 
pastor  is  evidently  an  earnest  man.  The  house  is  a 
spacious  structure,  very  neat,  and  the  congregation 
was  a  good  one.  The  next  morning  we  called 
on  Dr.  Thoburn,  the  pastor,  but  he  had  just  left  town. 
We  heard  him  very  highly  spoken  of. 

The  English  part  of  the  city  is  filled  with  impos- 
ing edifices.  The  public  buildings  are  on  a  grand 
scale.  The  Viceroy's  palace,  though  the  design  is 
considered  faulty,  is  a  very  large,  and,  upon  the; 
whole,  a  beautiful  building.  The  zoological  gardens 
are  large,  and  contain  several  species  of  beasts  and 
birds   which  I  never  saw  before ;  among   them  the 


CEYLON,  MADRAS,  CALCUTTA.  205 

tapir,  the  spotted-deer,  the  barking-deer,  the  hog- 
deer,  several  species  of  bovine  animals,  a  species  of 
seal  with  a  perfect  quadrupedal  form,  but  with  the 
head  and  neck,  and  all  the  habits  and  instincts  of  the 
seal ;  and  many  others  that  I  cannot  take  space  even 
to  name. 

We  visited,  too — not  the  garden  of  Eden  exactly, 
but — "The  Eden  Garden."  These  fine  grounds  were 
given  to  the  city  by  the  Misses  Eden,  sisters  of  Lord 
Auckland,  who  was  once  the  Governor-General  of 
India. 

Of  the  condition  of  the  natives,  and  the  work  of 
God  in  this  vast  city,  I  must  defer  speaking  till  an- 
other time.  One  thing  I  will  say  now.  I  have  the 
conviction  that  China  is  in  fact  a  better  Mission-field 
than  India.  I  must  add  that  my  observation  is  not 
sufficient  to  justify  me  in  settling  down  upon  any 
conclusion,  and  if  I  see  cause  to  change  my  mind  I 
shall  be  careful  to  sav  so. 

By  the  way,  we  find  the  Chinaman  here  again. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

CALCUTTA. 

IT  WOULD  puzzle  a  man  of  ordinary  understand- 
ing to  say  where  the  mouth  of  the  Hooghly  river 
is.  It  may,  with  propriety,  I  suppose,  be  held 
to  be  80  or  1 00  miles  below  Calcutta.  But  if  you 
count  the  mouth  only  from  the  point  at  which  you 
begin  to  see  land  on  both  sides  of  you,  it  is  within 
forty  or  fifty  miles  of  the  city. 

As  we  approached,  we  were  in  conversation  with 
a  gentleman  who  was  an  old  resident  of  India,  and 
were  told  by  him  that  while  at  hotels  we  would  find 
it  expedient  to  hire  a  personal  servant,  who  would 
see  that  our  rooms  were  supplied  with  every  neces- 
sary article,  look  after  our  washing,  wait  on  us  at 
table,  and  so  forth.  Besides  all  this,  he  would  be 
our  guide  in  visiting  objects  of  interest. 

We  had  no  sooner  secured  our  room?  at  the  hotel 
than  a  man  offered  himself  for  employment — Cheady 
Lall,  by  name.  He  spoke  English  well  enough,  and 
had  an  unlimited  supply  of  recommendations  from 
gentlemen  whom  he  had  served.  After  a  moment's 
consultation  we  agreed  to  employ  him  for  the  two  or 
three  days  we  would  be  in  the  city,  as  it  would  cost 
us  but  a  shilling  a  day  each.  He  was  to  come  early 
Monday  morning.  He  was  on  hand  in  good  time, 
blacked  our  boots,  brushed  our  clothes,  took  charge 


CALCUTTA.  207 

of  our  soiled  linen,  and  made  himself  useful  gener- 
ally. But  when  we  came  to  breakfast,  where  was 
Cheady  ?  We  expected  him  to  be  at  the  back  of 
our  chairs,  as  other  gentlemen  had  their  servants, 
ready  to  break  his  neck  for  us,  running  between  din- 
ing-room and  kitchen.  But  our  particular  servant  was 
?wn  est  inventus!  Cheady  Lall,  this  man  of  so  many 
certificates,  this  man  who  had  served  generals,  and 
counts,  and  reverends,  with  so  much  fidelity  and 
activity,  must  give  an  account  of  this  dereliction. 
Trust  Cheady  for  that!  He  will  be  ready  with  an 
explanation  that  must  satisfy  any  reasonable  man. 
The  trouble  is  in  his  caste.  Men  of  his  caste  never 
serve  at  the  table.  It  would  be  a  disgrace,  a  degra- 
dation. Cheady  will  black  boots,  brush  clothes, 
look  after  soiled  linen,  carry  slops,  lick  the  dust — but 
wait  on  the  table  ?  Never  !  An  honorable  Sudra 
would  starve  first.  Should  he  do  such  a  thing  he 
would  lose  his  caste,  and  death  would  be  better 
than  that. 

I  have  introduced  this  incident,  not  on  its  own 
account,  but  as  illustrative  of  life  in  Hindostan — for 
the  purpose  of  showing,  first,  how  imperious  a  thing 
caste  is  here,  and,  secondly,  how  arbitrary  are  the 
rules  regulating  it. 

Monday  we  spent  the  morning  bringing  up  o^ur 
correspondence,  mailing  it,  getting  our  traveling 
through  India  arranged  for,  drawing  on  our  letters  of 
credit,  and  getting  and  consulting  guide-books.  We 
made  some  effort,  also,  to  see  missionaries,  but  were 
not  "lucky.'*  They  were  "out."  In  the*  afternoon 
we  went  to  the*  Zoological  Garderi<  We  determined 
to  make  Ti^day   a  great  day;       We  would  been* 


208  CALCUTTA. 

early,  and  do  a  good  half-day's  work  before  break- 
fast. Cheady  was  to  come  and  have  coffee  and  toast 
for  us  early.  By  the  way,  he  never  objected  to  bring 
coffee  and  toast  to  our  rooms,  though  he  could  not 
wait  on  the  table.  By  about  sunrise  we  would  start 
for  the  Botanical  Gardens.  But'  our  faithful  and 
efficient  servant  was  late,  so  that  it  was  near  8 
o'clock  when  we  got  off.  Then  we  found  the  float- 
ing bridge  across  the  Hooghly,  which  lay  between  us 
and  the  gardens,  opened  for  ships  to  pass,  so  that  we 
could  not  cross.  What  now  ?  "  Visit  the  Burning 
Ghat,"  said  Cheady  ;  "  it  is  near  by."  To  the  Burn- 
ing Ghat,  accordingly,  we  drove,  to  witness  the 
Hindoo  process  of  cremation.  Several  bodies  were 
in  different  stages  of  the  process,  which  is  simple 
enough.  The  body  is  placed  in  the  center  of  a  pile 
of  wood  made  on  the  ground,  with  a  good  air  pass- 
age at  the  bottom.  Into  the  air-passage  a  good 
supply  of  kindling  is  placed,  so  as  to  insure  simulta- 
neous ignition  of  all  parts.  The  men  engaged  in  the 
work  have  poles,  with  which  they  throw  up  the  fallen 
brands,  so  as  to  keep  a  hot  fire  upon  every  portion 
of  the  body.  They  seem  to  be  as  cheerful  and 
ready  for  a  joke  and  laugh  as  any  men  we  have  met 
with.  I  was  surprised  to  see  the  small  quantity  of 
fuel  with  which  a  body  may  be  wholly  reduced  to 
ashes. 

If  I  should  say  the  sight  was  horrible,  the  term 
would  not  exceed  the  truth,  so  far  as  the  impression 
made  upon  me  was  concerned.  Yet  I  doubt  not  that 
the  mind  of  the  Hindoo  would  be  equally  shocked  at 
the  thought  of  being  covered  up  in  the  earth  and  left 
tQ  decay  there. 


CALCUTTA.  209 

I  was  careful  to  keep  on  the  windward  side,  so  as 
not  to  get  the  odor  of  burning  human  flesh.  Some 
of  our  party  were  less  fortunate.  The  impression 
made  through  one  organ  was  all  I  could  consent  to 
commit  t)  the  custody  of  my  memory.  But  there 
was  play  given  to  the  imagination  in  facts  still  recent 
in  Hindoo  history.  Add  to  the  sight  we  had,  the 
spectacle  of  the  living wife,  bound  upon  the  pile,  to 
be  consumed  with  her  dead  husband  ! 

The  ashes  are  gathered  up  in  baskets  and  com- 
mitted to  the  sacred  Ganges — the  Hooghly  here — on 
the  bank  of  which  the  burning  is  done.  We  saw 
the  ashes  of  those  consumed  the  day  before  being 
removed. 

From  this  place  we  drove  through  the  largest  of 
the  native  bazaars.  There  seemed  to  be  some  rather 
large  stocks  of  goods  in  some  of  the  shops,  but  we 
have  never  anywhere  seen  them  kept  in  such  misera- 
ble dens — so  small,  so  dark,  so  repulsive.  Later  in 
the  day  we  entered  one  which  was  not  over  six  feet 
wide,  from  wall  to  wall,  by  ten  feet  deep,  and  seven 
from  floor  to  ceiling,  with  no  light  except  through 
the  front  entrance.  The  goods  were  literally  packed 
along  the  sides  from  bottom  to  top.  The  persistency 
of  the  salesmen,  if  possible,  exceeds  that  of  Ceylon 
and  the  Straits.  Indeed,  you  are  constantly  assailed 
on  the  streets  with  the  offer  of  knives,  handkerchiefs, 
walking-sticks,  and  all  manner  of  small  articles.  One 
fellow  ran  after  our  gharry  at  a  trot,  thrusting  his 
wares  at  me  with  beseeching  importunity. 

The  houses  of  the  poorer  classes  are  very  misera- 
ble. I  thin!*  they  average  lower  tha:\  in  any  country 
we  have  been  jn;  though  I  had  seen  what  I  supposed 


210  CALCUTTA. 

could  scarcely  be  worse  this  side  of  a  purely 
nomadic  state.  To  be  sure,  there  are  many  houses 
of  a  better  class,  and  some  few  very  magnificent 
ones,  but  I  should  think  that  at  least  three-fourths  of 
all  the  people  live  in  huts,  made  of  mud  plastered 
upon  a  slight  bamboo  frame,  many  of  them  being  so 
low  that  a  man  can  stand  erect  only  in  the  center. 

Then  we  visited  the  new  market-house.  It  would 
do  credit  to  any  American  city.  It  embraces  an 
entire  square,  fronting  on  four  streets.  There  is  an 
open  court  in  the  center  of  the  square,  neatly  laid 
off,  and  planted  with  flowers.  Part  of  the  space  in 
the  market-house  is  occupied  with  tables  for  the  dis- 
play of  meats  and  vegetables,  but  many  of  the  vege- 
tables are  spread  out  on  the  floor,  the  vendors  squat- 
ting over  them.  In  fact,  the  amount  of  squatting 
done  in  India  is  very  amusing  to  a  Western  man.  In 
the  part  devoted  to  the  sale  of  beef  there  are  three 
compartments,  each  one  having  a  sign  in  a  promi- 
nent place,  "First-class,"  "Second-class,"  "Third- 
class."  But  what  strikes  a  traveler,  mainly,  is  the 
noise  of  human  voices  in  a  high  key.  Every  pur- 
chaser is  pursued  and  shouted  after,  and  importuned 
to  buy,  until  the  place  might  well  be  mistaken  for 
bedlam. 

It  was  now  breakfast-time,  and  we  were  ready  for  it. 

After  breakfast,  the  bridge  being  adjusted,  we  went 
to  the  Botanical  Gardens,  which  were  originated  in 
1786,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Honorable  East 
India  Company.  They  have  an  area  of  two  hundred 
and  seventy-two  acres,  Well  laid  off,  and  a  great 
variety  of  shrubbery  and  flower's,  both  native  and 
exotki     There  >s  $  remarkable  collection  of  orchids. 


CALCUTTA.  2 1 1 

Beautiful  avenues  of  palm-trees,  of  several  varieties, 
add  greatly  to  the  general  effect.  There  is  a  banyan- 
tree,  a  hundred  years  old,  which  looks  for  all  the 
world  like  a  grove  of  trees.  The  lower  branches  run 
out  horizontally  not  less  than  eighty  feet,  and  not 
less  than  one  hundred  and  seventy  aerial  roots  drop 
from  various  heights,  and  fasten  in  the  ground. 
These  roots  are  very  small  at  first,  and  look  like 
strings  dangling  in  the  air,  some  of  them  thirty  or 
forty  feet  long,  but  most  of  them  shorter.  When 
once  they  touch  the  ground,  and  enter  it,  they  begin 
to  enlarge  their  diameter,  and,  in  course  of  time,  each 
stem  becomes,  itself,  quite  a  tree.  There  are  some 
fine  specimens  of  mahogany,  peepul,  asoke,  casu- 
arina,  climbing-palms,  and,  indeed,  a  variety  so  great 
that  it  fatigues  my  memory.  The  conservatory  for 
orchids,  alone,  is  two  hundred  feet  long.  In  a  prom- 
inent position  is  a  monument  to  Gen.  Kid,  the 
founder  of  the  garden.  How  the  English  may  be  at 
home  I  do  not  know,  but  here  in  India  there  is  a 
great  rage  for  monuments  and  statues. 

This  garden  has  not  been  devoted  exclusively  to 
art  and  pleasure.  Through  its  management  the  cul- 
tivation of  tea  has  been  introduced  into  Assam,  and 
the  cinchona  has  been  thoroughly  acclimated  in  India. 

After  tiffin  we  went  to  visit  one  of  the  largest  Mis- 
sion-schools in  Calcutta — that  of  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland — but  we  were  too  late.  The  recitations 
were  over  for  the  day,  and  the  professors  gone.  But 
we  were  politely  received  by  a  janitor,  and  shown 
through  the  building,  which  is  large  and  well-ar- 
ranged. As  we  were  about  leaving  we  met  with  one 
of  the  native  professors,  an  elegant  and  intelligent- 


2  I  2  CALCUTTA. 

looking  man,  who  was  very  polite  and  communica- 
tive. He  informed  us  that  the  heathen  teachers  in 
the  institution  numbered  twenty,  and  the  Christian 
six.  We  asked  him  if  he  was  himself  a  Christian. 
"No,"  said  he,  "I  am  a  heathen."  To  his  ear  there 
was  no  opprobrium  in  the  word. 

We  then  called  on  Mr.  Macalister,  the  American 
Consul,  who  received  us  with  great  cordiality.  He 
said  that  he  could,  and  would  be  glad  to,  get  us  a  per- 
mit to  visit  the  grounds  of  the  King  of  Oude.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  this  King  was  concerned  in  the 
Sepoy  rebellion,  and  that  he  was  deposed  by  the 
British  Government,  and  compelled  to  fix  his  resi- 
dence in  the  suburbs  of  Calcutta.  His  palace  is  on 
the  bank  of  the  Hooghly,  in  full  view  from  the  steam- 
ers as  they  approach  the  city.  A  large  pension  is 
paid  him,  which  he  spends  lavishly,  living  in  Oriental 
grandeur.  His  grounds  are  large,  and  the  variety  of 
shrubbery  and  rare  flowers  is  very  great.  Besides 
this,  he  has  a  large  collection  of  animals.  The  Con- 
sul assured  us  that  the  place  would  well  repay  a  visit. 
But  our  permit  never  came,  the  proper  functionary 
being  out  of  town.  Mr.  Macalister  called  at  our 
hotel  to  inform  us.  Finding  us  out,  he  left  a  very 
pleasant  note,  expressing  his  regrets.  We  shall  not 
forget  his  kindness.  It  is  due  to  add  that  the  repre- 
sentatives of  our  Government  abroad,  wherever  we 
have  found  them,  have  extended  to  us  every  courtesy 
that  we  could  desire. 

Upon  the  whole,  we  were  very  glad,  in  the  end, 
that  we  did  not  visit  the  grounds  of  the  ex-king,  as 
we  occupied  the  time  much  more  profitably  in  visit- 
ing several  missionaries.     Our  first  call  was  upon  the 


CALCUTTA.  2  1 3 

Rev.  Mr.  Lewis,  of  the  English  Baptist  Mission.  He 
is  the  Secretary  of  the  Mission,  and  Superintendent 
of  the  press.  We  were  sorry  to  find  him  partially 
paralyzed.  He  received  us  most  Christianly  ;  but 
the  effort  to  converse  was  evidently  distressing,  so 
we  made  our  visit  short.  Next  door  was  Dr.  Wen- 
ger,  of  the  same  Mission,  who  had  been  engaged 
chiefly  in  the  work  of  translation.  He  is  a  German, 
a  man  of  great  learning,  great  simplicity  of  character, 
now  advanced  in  years,  and  one  of  the  oldest  mis- 
sionaries in  India.  In  an  hour  we  learned  more 
about  India  and  the  Mission-work  from  him  than  we 
had  been  able  to  gather  from  all  other  sources.  He 
knew  exactly  what  to  say,  and  how  to  say  it — a  rare 
gift.  In  a  luminous  sentence  or  two  he  made  plain 
what  we  had  sought  in  vain  from  others.  He 
seemed  to  know  every  thing,  and  the  slightest  hint 
on  our  part  was  sufficient  to  bring  a  fund  of  informa- 
tion which  twenty  well-directed  questions  would  not 
have  sufficed  to  pump  out  of  an  ordinary  man.  If  I 
had  been  with  an  apostle  I  could  scarcely  have  ven- 
erated him  more.  Noble  man  !  his  work  will  soon 
be  done,  but  a  glorious  crown  awaits  him. 

The  next  place  we   visited   was   "The   School  of 

Useful    Arts,"    under   the    control    of    Mr. ,    an 

American  Unitarian.  This  gentleman  is  a  rich  spec- 
imen of  the  genus  Yankee,  and  is  evidently  a  man  of 
a  good  deal  of  force  in  a  very  fussy  way.  He  has  a 
boys'  school,  and  one  for  girls.  We  found  him  up 
to  his  chin  in  preparation  for  the  celebration  of 
Washington's  birth-day.  He  was  going  to  have  the 
public  in,  to  make  a  speech,  to  have  singing  by  the 
school  under  big  Washington  flags,  to  have  Longfel- 


214  CALCUTTA. 

low's  Psalm  of  Life  recited,  and  I  know  not  what  all. 
He  received  us  in  a  demonstative  way,  flew  around 
to  show  us  every  thing,  ran  over  an  empty  box,  read 
us  a  controversial  paper  he  was  preparing  for  the 
press  on  ex-tuitions  versus  intuitions,  declared  we 
looked  like  Americans — talked  like  a  streak  of  light- 
ning— and  amused  us  much.  We  learned  afterward 
that  he  had  once  united  himself  formally  with  the 
Brahmo  Somaj ;  but  Chunder  Sen  was  too  intuitional, 
too  devout,  for  him.  The  great  Hindoo,  so  pro- 
foundly intuitional,  and  the  spry  American,  so 
actively  ex-tuitional,  could  not  walk  together,  not 
being  agreed,  albeit  the  fundamental  tenet  of  both 
was  the  same. 

Across  the  way  from  the  "School  of  Useful  Arts" 
is  a  house  of  good  size,  with  a  modest  title  on  the 
gate,  in  these  words,  if  I  remember  correctly, 
"  American  Mission  Home."  It  is  occupied  ex- 
clusively by  ladies  sent  out  by  the  "  Woman's  Union 
Missionary  Society"  of  America.  The  ladies  were 
all  out  when  we  called,  but  we  saw  Miss  Sunder,  the 
Principal  of  a  school  taught  in  the  house,  but  not 
connected  with  the  work.  We  called  again  after 
dinner,  and  met  with  all  the  ladies  of  the  Mission. 
The  hour  we  had  to  spare  was  gone  before  we  knew 
it.  These  ladies  are  an  honor  to  their  country  and 
to  the  Church.  Full  of  intelligence,  full  of  faith, 
full  of  zeal,  they  have  devoted  themselves  to  a  work 
which  none  but  women  can  do  in  India — the  Zenana 
work. 

The  Hindoo  lady  is  kept  in  the  closest  possible 
seclusion.  The  upper  apartments  of  the  house  are 
so  constructed  that  no  one  can  see  into  them  from 


CALCUTTA.  2  I  5 

without,  nor  see  out,  except  upward,  from  within. 
The  name  of  these  secluded  apartments  is  "  Zenana." 
No  man,  except  a  member  of  the  household,  ever 
enters.  Usually  there  are  several  women  in  every 
household,  the  customs  of  the  country  being  such 
that  generally  several  women  are  dependent  on  the 
head  of  even'  house.  For  instance,  no  widow  is 
allowed  to  marry  again.  But  marriages  generally 
take  place  in  childhood,  a  girl  being  usually  mar- 
ried -to  some  boy  by  the  time  she  is  nine  years  old. 
A  few  years  later,  while  they  are  both  very  young, 
they  begin  to  live  together,  but  during  the  interval 
they  never  meet — so  there  are  multitudes  of  widows 
in  India  who  never  saw  their  husbands. 

Of  late  there  is  beginning  to  be  a  movement  in 
India  in  favor  of  female  education.  This  opens  the 
way  of  intelligent  European  and  American  ladies 
into  the  Zenana.  When  a  man  determines  to 
have  the  women  of  his  family  taught,  missionary 
ladies  are  applied  to.  Native  women,  already  con- 
verted and  educated,  are  sent  as  teachers,  and  twice 
a  week  the  missionary  ladies  go  in  to  inspect  the 
work  and  talk  of  Christ  and  salvation.  In  no  other 
way  can  the  gospel  reach  them,  as  they  can  never 
go  abroad,  and  therefore  never  hear  preaching.  The 
ladies  of  the  American  Zenana  Mission  have  over 
800  pupils  in  their  household-schools.  Besides  them 
there  are  others  engaged  in  the  same  work  ;  but  what 
the  aggregate  of  all  the  Zenana  work  amounts  to  I 
do  not  know. 

Except  from  Dr.  Wenger,  our  most  valuable  infor- 
mation as  to  the  state  of  the  Work  in  Calcutta,  was 
obtained  from  these  ladies, 


2i6  CALCUTTA. 

The  next  thing  we  did  was  to  visit  the  Town  Hall, 
and  one  or  two  other  public  buildings,  which  are 
massive  and  spacious,  but  noteworthy  chiefly  for  the 
portraits  and  statues  of  distinguished  men.  I  was 
glad  to  see  Warren  Hastings  in  the  most  prominent 
place,  as  I  have  for  years  had  the  conviction  that  he 
was  unjustly  dealt  by.  Nor  was  I  displeased  to  find 
Lord  Cornwallis  in  the  next  most  prominent  place. 
The  fame  he  failed  to  win  in  America,  he  did  most 
worthily  earn  here.  His  administration  of  the  affairs 
of  India  is  universally  regarded  as  wise,  vigorous, 
and  beneficent.  His  statue  represents  a  man  of 
noble  port.  It  is  full-length,  and  the  olive-branch  is 
in  his  right  hand. 

We  saw  the  portraits  of  two  Hindoos  in  the  Town 
Hall,  and  the  busts  of  two  others.  You  would  know 
the  portraits  to  be  Hindoos  at  once  by  the  complex- 
ion ;  but  the  busts  would  be  taken  for  Europeans, 
were  it  not  for  the  drapery.  The  type  of  features 
among  the  Hindoos  is  strikingly  similar  to  that  of 
Europeans.  I  have  been  struck  with  this  as  much 
as  with  any  one  fact  that  has  come  under  my  obser- 
vation. I  have  not  seen  a  face  that  approaches  the 
Mongol  caste,  much  less  the  negro,  or  the  American 
Indian,  but  any  man  I  have  seen  would  be  accepted 
at  once  as  a  Caucasian,  if  his  skin  were  only  white. 
In  fact,  instances  of  the  pug  nose  are  much  more 
rare  than  with  us.  Almost  every  nose  is  aquiline  or 
Grecian,  the  Grecian  being,  by  far,  the  most  common 
pattern.  I  believe  I  am  about  ready  to  receive  the 
theory  of  the  Aryan,  or  Indo-European  race,  as 
embracing  the  Hindoo  and  European  in  a  common 
Stock, 


CALCUTTA.  217 

Our  stay  in  Calcutta  was  too  short.  We  ought  to 
have  visited  Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  the  very  distin- 
guished leader  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj — Brahmo,  the 
adjective  form  of  Brahm,  God — Somaj,  an  organiza- 
tion, or  society.  Brahm  is  a  different  word,  having 
a  totally  different  root  from  Bramha,  which  is  the 
name  of  one  of  the  gods  of  the  Hindoo  Trinity.  In 
the  one  the  h  comes  before  the  m ;  in  the  other,  after 
it.     Brahm  is  the  Infinite  One. 

The  Brahmo  Somaj  was  organized  in  1830,  by 
Ram  Mohm  Roy,  its  object  being  to  rescue  the  peo- 
ple from  the  worship  of  false  gods,  and  establish  a 
pure  monotheism.  After  him  the  Society  became 
languid,  until  in  1843  it  was  much  revived  by  another 
reformer,  Debendra  Nath  Tagore.  In  1858  it 
received  the  accession  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  who 
soon  became  the  most  influential  man  in  its  ranks. 
He  is  generally  respected  as  a  man  of  blameless  life. 
He  is  believed  to  be  very  devout  and  earnest.  Some 
six  years  ago  he  visited  England,  creating  quite  a 
sensation  there.  At  that  time  very  great  things 
were  expected  of  him,  but  the  Somaj  has  not  in- 
creased as  it  was  expeced  to  do.  The  Hindoo  mind 
is  too  deeply  imbued  with  idolatry,  of  the  grossest 
kind,  to  be  recovered  by  a  mere  devotional  philoso- 
phy. There  is  no  name  given  in  heaven  or  in  the 
earth  that  can  rescue  it,  but  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Our  best  informant,  Dr.  Wenger,  assured  us 
that  the  Society  is  not  very  vital  at  present.  "  Six 
years  ago,"  he  said,  "  Chunder  Sen  was  all  the  fash- 
ion in  Calcutta,  but  he  is  not  the  fashion  now." 
These  words  fell  upon  my  ear  with  great  significance. 
The  Brahmo  Somaj  is  not  a  permanent  Force,  but  a 


2l8  CALCUTTA. 

passing  Fashion.  It  is  not  likely  to  survive  its  pres- 
ent popular  leader,  and  even  now,  at  the  age  of 
thirty-nine,  he  is  waning. 

Already  there  has  been  a  schism,  and  Chunder 
Sen  is  the  leader  of  the  "  Progressive  Brahmos."  He 
has  a  Mandix  in  Calcutta — a  house  of  worship  much 
like  a  large  Protestant  church — and  also  a  school  in 
which  young  men  are  instructed  in  the  new  Theistic 
philosophy.  Each  division  of  the  Somaj  has  two 
organs,  one  printed  in  Bengali  and  one  in  English. 

I  must  add  that  we  are  now  in  Benares,  the  sacred 
city  of  India,  in  which  there  are  thousands  of  tem- 
ples, big  and  little,  and  I  dare  say  millions  of  gods. 
H.  has  supplied  himself  with  these  latter,  having 
invested  two  rupees.  The  lot  numbers  some  six  or 
eight.  There  is  no  doubt  of  their  genuineness,  as 
they  were  bought  of  a  priest,  who,  as  our  guide 
assured  us,  was  so  honest  that  he  had  only  "  one 
price. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

FROM  CALCUTTA  TO  BENARES. 

WE  LEFT  CALCUTTA  at  half-past  ten  p.  m., 
February  21,  and  reached  Benares  the  next 
day  at  7  p.  m.  There  is  no  sleeping-car  on 
the  train  ;  but,  in  both  the  first  and  second-class  car- 
riages, the  traveler  will  find  room  to  lie  down,  and,  if 
he  is  properly  provided  with  bedding,  he  may  get 
through  the  night  very  well.  For  four  rupees  and 
twelve  annas — about  $2.40 — I  bought  a  rezai  and 
pillow,  and,  for  55  cents  more,  a  towel,  an  outfit 
which,  with  the  heavy  shawl  I  always  carry,  made 
me  very  comfortable.  The  rezai  is  a  very  neat-look- 
ing quilt,  thickly  stuffed  with  cotton.  In  addition  to 
its  use  in  the  cars,  it  is  needed  in  the  winter,  in  the 
interior  cities,  for  a  bed  cover,  many  of  the  hotels 
supplying  nothing  but  a  sheet.  Mine  has  paid  for 
itself  already. 

The  railroad  from  Calcutta  runs  up  the  valley  of 
the  Ganges  for  several  hundred  miles,  keeping  within 
a  few  miles  of  the  river,  except  at  one  point,  where 
the  river  makes  a  great  circuit,  the  road  making  a 
direct  line.  When  we  awoke  in  the  morning  we 
found  ourselves  passing  through  a  level  region,  with 
isolated  hills  rising  boldly  here  and  there ;  but,  soon 
coming  nearer  to  the  river,  we  lost  sight  of  all  hills, 
and  throughout  the  day  our  horizon  bounded  a  dead 


220  FROM  CALCUTTA  T0  BENARES. 

level  on  all  sides.  It  is  nearly  all  in  cultivation, 
many  reaches  of  it  reminding  us  of  a  Western 
prairie.  But,  generally,  there  are  groves,  or  rather 
orchards,  of  mangroves  in  sight,  and  every  here  and 
there  an  avenue  of  palms  belted  the  horizon,  the 
naked  bole  standing  against  the  sky  with  its  tuft  of 
foliage  at  the  top. 

Our  way  led  through  the  great  opium  region.  The 
poppy-fields  were  in  full  bloom.  The  species  grown 
for  opium  has  a  white  flower,  the  petals  being  single. 
The  white  fields  dotting  the  open  landscape  formed 
a  pleasant  picture  for  the  eye.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  day  rice-fields  alternated  with  the  poppy,  but 
later,  wheat  and  barley  seemed  to  be  the  principal 
cereals.  We  saw  a  few  small  patches  of  oats,  with 
here  and  there  an  acre  or  two  of  tobacco.  There  is 
also  a  good  deal  of  millet,  as  well  as  sugar-cane,  of  a 
small,  but  very  rich  species.  Many  varieties  of 
nutritious  vegetables  are  grown,  and  in  large  quanti- 
ties.    The  castor-oil  plant  must  be  added. 

The  mangrove  is  a  valuable  fruit,  the  groves  of 
which  remind  one  of  apple-orchards,  supposing  the 
apple-tree  to  be  of  unusual  size.  These  orchards 
relieve  the  level  landscape,  and  vary  the  monotonous 
scene  very  pleasantly. 

The  rural  population  live  in  villages,  and  many  of 
the  people  must  go  two  or  three  miles  to  cultivate 
their  fields.  The  huts  that  constitute  the  villages 
stand  close  together,  often  in  a  confused  way,  leav- 
ing only  sufficient  space  for  foot-passengers  between 
them. 

The  spring  crops  of  wheat  and  barley  are  just 
coming  to  maturity.     These  crops,  they  tell   us,  are 


FROM  CALCUTTA  TO  BENARES.  221 

unusually  heavy,  but  the  yield  would  be  considered 
light  in  America.  We  were  informed,  however,  that 
the  yield  of  grain  is  greater  than  an  American  would 
expect,  the  head  being  large  and  well-filled.  The 
barley  grows  about  a  foot  high ;  the  wheat  a  little 
higher.  But  the  wonder  is  that  the  land  produces  as 
well  as  it  does,  the  same  fields  having  been  cultivated 
age  after  age  for  thousands  of  years,  without  any 
manuring,  almost  every  thing  that  might  be  utilized 
to  that  end  being  carefully  dried  and  used  for  fuel. 
In  China  and  Japan  every  thing  that  can  be  made 
compost  of  is  used  to  enrich  the  soil.  The  contrast 
in  India  in  this  respect  is  complete. 

The  plow  is  of  wood,  with  an  iron  point,  two  or 
three  inches  long,  the  size  of  a  man's  finger;  so  that 
as  there  is  no  manuring,  there  is  no  deep  plowing. 
With  this  mere  scratching  of  the  surface  from  year 
to  year,  the  valley  of  the  Ganges  feeds  its  millions, 
yielding  two  harvests  a  year. 

I  saw  a  man  cutting  wheat  with  a  very  small 
sickle.  He  was  in  a  squat  posture,  and  cut  the  straw 
at  the  very  surface  of  the  ground.  Contrast  that 
with  a  McCormack  reaper !  I  doubt  if  the  implements 
of  labor  here  have  been  at  all  improved  in  two  thou- 
sand years.  I  wish  you  could  see  them  expressing 
the  juice  of  the  sugar-cane!  There  is  a  large  block 
of  wood,  hollowed  like  a  mortar,  with  a  hole  from 
the  bottom  of  the  hollow  to  let  the  juice  run  out. 
The  cane  js  cut  into  pieces  of  an  inch  or  two  long, 
and  put  into  the  mortar.  Then  a  beam,  of  a  very 
heavy  species  of  wood,  having  the  lower  end  rounded 
and  set  into  the  mortar,  the  beam  being  supported 
by  a  rude  frame,  at  an  angle  of  eight  or  ten  degrees 


222  FROM  CALCUTTA  TO  BENARES. 

from  an  upright  position,  is  made  to  revolve  in  the 
mortar  by  ox-power.  The  sugar  made  in  this  way 
is  of  a  very  dark  color,  but  might  be  purified  and 
refined,  no  doubt,  up  to  the  standard  of  the  best 
American  article.  All  sorts  of  native  manufactures 
are  produced  in  the  same  crude  way,  the  only  im- 
proved machinery  being  in  the  hands  of  Europeans 
or  Americans. 

The  people  of  India  are  in  extreme  poverty.  Of 
course  there  are  a  good  many  individuals  who  are 
well-to-do,  and  some  who  are  wealthy.  Some  rajahs 
and  nawabs  (nabobs),  in  fact,  have  enormous  reve- 
nues. But  the  cultivator  of  the  soil,  after  he  pays  his 
taxes  and  rents,  barely  lives.  Barely  lives,  I  say ; 
that  is,  he  has  what  rice  and  vegetables  will  fill  him 
from  day  to  day,  a  mud  hut  to  shelter  his  family,  a 
mat  to  sleep  on  and  a  loin-cloth,  which  cost  him 
about  fifty  cents,  and  will  last  six  months  or  a  year. 
Sometimes  the  cloth,  which  is  cotton,  is  large  enough 
to  drop  down  about  his  legs,  but  very  often  it  will 
only  cover  the  loins  and  hips.  The  hired  laborer 
gets  two  annas — six  cents — a  day.  This  will  procure 
him  sufficient  rice,  and  about  what  I  have  mentioned 
above  in  the  way  of  shelter  and  clothing. 

Of  course  ignorance  abounds.  In  Calcutta,  which 
is  exceptionally  favored  with  respect  to  educational 
advantages,  in  a  population  of  near  500,000,  less 
than  100,000  can  read,  and  of  these  only  10,000  are 
women.  Of  these  women  the  greater  number  are 
either  Europeans  or  Indo-Europeans.  Take  the 
country  over,  I  do  not  suppose  that  one  in  twenty 
has  any  knowledge  of  letters — perhaps  not  one  in 
fifty.     Of  the  native  women  there  are  none  who  can 


FROM  CALCUTTA  TO  BENARES.         223 

read  except  those  who  have  been  taught  in  Mission- 
schools.  Brahmanism,  Buddhism  and  Mohamme- 
danism have  all  had  their  turn  in  India,  and  precious 
little  have  they  done  for  the  common  people.  It 
remains  to  be  seen  if  the  elevating  power  of  Chris- 
tianity can  reach  them  and  raise  them  to  a  higher 
plane. 

That  they  are  capable  of  elevation,  is  the  opinion 
of  the  most  intelligent  missionaries  I  have  conversed 
with  on  the  subject.  From  all  I  hear,  I  conclude 
that  they  are  not  inferior  to  the  European  in  intellec- 
tual capacity.  A  want  of  vigor  there  may  be — an 
absence,  alike,  of  the  spring  and  endurance  found  in 
higher  latitudes — but  not  of  native  intelligence, 
though  it  is  the  opinion  of  some  that  there  are  spe- 
cific differences  of  mental  development.  One  mis- 
sionary of  large  experience,  a  representative  of  the 
London  Missionary  Society,  told  me  that  they  excel 
in  mathematics  and  in  logic,  but  are  wanting  in 
common  sense.  Through  want  of  common  sense  they 
often  set  out  with  faulty  premises,  but  the  argument 
from  the  premises  will  always  be  perfect;  and  once 
in  a  line  of  logical  sequences,  the  Hindoo  will  follow 
it,  no  matter  which  way  it  leads  or  where  it  lands. 

There  has  always  been  a  class  of  learned  men  in 
India,  very  intellectual,  very  subtle — perhaps  even 
profound.  But  I  do  not  know  enough  about  the 
facts  to  write  with  confidence  as  to  the  range  of  their 
learning.  Much  of  their  literature,  nearly  all  of  it,  I 
suppose,  is  of  the  religious  type,  and,  certainly,  a  large 
part  of  it  is  ridiculous  enough ;  but  it  is  not  wanting 
in  acuteness  and  ingenuity. 

It  was  dark  when  we  reached  the  Benares  station. 


224  FROM  CALCUTTA  TO  BENARES. 

Taking  a  gharry,  we  crossed  the  Ganges  on  a  bridge 
of  boats,  and  drove  two  or  three  miles  to  the  Euro- 
pean suburbs,  where  we  found  pleasant  quarters  at 
the  Civil  Service  Hotel.  Benares  is  one  of  the  oldest 
of  all  the  Indian  cities.  It  seems  to  have  enjoyed  the 
reputation  of  a  "sacred  city"  from  immemorial  times. 
Here  Sakya  Muni,  now  called  Buddha,  the  son  of  a 
petty  king  of  the  old  times,  established  himself  at  the 
outset  of  his  career,  that  he  might  have  the  prestige 
of  the  holy  city  to  give  weight  to  his  doctrine.  The 
site  of  the  old  city  is  some  six  miles  from  that  of  the 
present  one.  The  ruins  have  been  partly  excavated, 
with  rich  results  in  the  way  of  Buddhist  remains. 
The  area  of  the  ruins,  consisting  chiefly  of  well-pre- 
served brick,  lying  to  the  depth  of  many  feet  upon 
the  ground,  is  very  large.  They  are  supposed  to  be 
the  remains  of  sacred  buildings.  One  immense  col- 
umn, partly  of  stone  and  partly  of  brick,  still  stands, 
though  very  greatly  mutilated.  It  is  said  to  com- 
memorate the  spot  where  Buddha  began  to  expound 
the  law.  It  was  once  entirely  encased  in  stone  richly 
carved,  but  now  the  lower  part  is  disfigured  by  the 
removal  of  large  quantities  of  stone  for  use  in  mod- 
ern buildings. 

Much  of  the  brick  in  these  ruins  is  in  perfect  pre- 
servation. It  was  burned  very  thoroughly,  and  is 
as  hard  as  you  can  imagine  brick  to  be.  We  saw  a 
well,  walled  with  it,  believed  to  be  not  less  than  one 
thousand  years  old,  perhaps  much  more,  the  wall 
being  now  as  solid  and  perfect  as  at  the  first.  It  was 
laid  in  mortar  of  a  quality  as  superior  as  the  brick 
itself.  The  tradition  is  that  the  buildings  were  de- 
stroyed by  force  and  violence,  when  the  Mohamme- 


FROM  CALCUTTA  TO  BEXARES.         225 

dan  invaders  made  a  furious  onslaught  on  the  sacred 
places  of  the  idolatrous  followers  of  Buddha.  I  can 
well  believe  it,  for  such  solid  masonry  would  not 
have  been  so  utterly  destroyed  by  the  ordinary 
agencies  of  decay,  as  the  perfect  preservation  of  the 
few  remaining  fragments  testifies. 

But  Buddhism  has  perished  out  of  India.  Only 
slight  traces  of  it  remain  on  the  continent.  It  still 
has  a  strong  hold  in  the  Island  of  Ceylon,  but  even 
there  it  is  falling  into  decay.  They  do  certainly  err 
who  say  that  there  is  a  revival  of  Buddhism  any- 
where in  the  world.  The  contrary  fact  is  conspicu- 
ously true.  It  is  perishing  in  India,  and  the  symp- 
toms of  incipient  decadence  are  apparent  in  China 
and  japan.  How  it  may  be  in  Burmah  and  Siam,  I 
do  not  know. 

Buddhism,  which  was  already  on  the  decline,  got 
its  final  death-blow  in  India  from  the  Mohamme- 
dans; but  they,  in  turn,  are  on  the  decrease.  Brah- 
manism,  which  was  before  Buddhism,  is  unquestion- 
ably the  prevailing  religion  of  the  country  now.  As 
to  what  its  prospects  are  in  presence  of  an  advanc- 
ing Christian  civilization,  I  may  offer  an  opinion  after 
I  shall  have  time  for  larger  observation. 

Between  Sarnath  and  Benares  is  a  most  remark- 
able mound,  made  entirely  of  brick.  It  is  at  least  150 
feet  high,  and  about  400  yards  in  circumference  at 
the  base.  My  first  impression  was  that  it  was  a  pile 
of  ruins,  but  not  so.  It  was  never  any  thing  but  a 
mound  of  solid  brick;  very  hard  brick,  and  laid  in 
the  best  of  mortar.  The  Government  has  excavated 
it  in  two  directions.  The  work  is  solid  from  top  to 
bottom.     It  is  believed  to  have   been  built  by  the 

*3  „— 


226  EROM  CALCUTTA  TO  BENARES. 

Buddhists,  but  in  later  times  the  Brahmans  built  a 
small  temple  or  tower  on  the  summit  of  it,  which  is 
still  standing,  though  a  good  deal  mutilated. 

True  to  its  traditional  character,  Benares  is  still, 
more  than  any  other  in  India,  the  sacred  city.  An 
actual  census  shows  it  to  have  over  1,000  temples, 
besides  many  small  structures  and  shrines  devoted 
to  pious  uses,  although  the  population  is  less  than 
300,000.  The  city  is  situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Ganges,  the  sacred  river,  and  at  a  point  where  the 
river  is  yet  more  sacred  than  elsewhere.  On  this 
side  the  bank  of  the  river  rises  rapidly  to  a  height  of 
perhaps  150  feet  above  the  water.  On  this  slope, 
fronting  the  river,  the  great  temples  are  built  so 
close,  and  massed  in  a  way  so  confused,  that  the 
effect  on  the  beholder  is  singular.  Bayard  Taylor 
went  into  raptures  over  the  beauty  of  it.  Not  so 
this  present  traveler.  There  is  a  certain  aspect  of 
imposing  massiveness,  and  some  individual  struc- 
tures, especially  towers,  that  are  beautiful  enough ; 
but  the  effect,  upon  the  whole,  at  least  to  my  eye,  is 
not  in  any  high  degree  pleasing.  The  jumble  of 
heterogeneous  styles  and  sizes,  with  walls  standing 
at  all  conceivable  angles  with  reference  to  each 
other,  is  not  beautiful.  Then  there  is  the  touch  of 
mildew  and  decay  everywhere.  Our  view  of  it  was 
from  a  boat,  drifting  slowly  down  with  the  current. 

But,  if  the  buildings  did  not  greatly  interest  me, 
the  sight  of  the  people  in  their  morning  ablutions, 
along  the  edge  of  the  river,  did.  Many  of  them  were 
pilgrims  who  had  come  to  take  a  plunge  in  the 
sacred  river,  at  this  spot  where  its  waters  are  so  effi- 
cacious.    They  wade  out  to  where  the  water  is  two 


FROM  CALCUTTA  TO  BENARES.         227 

or  three  feet  in  depth.  Women  mingle  with  the  men. 
The  little  clothing  they  wear  is  not  removed,  so  that 
there  is  no  indecency  in  this  mingling  of  the  sexes. 
Certain  religious  rites  are  used  at  the  same  time,  one 
of  which  is  to  pour  out  water  to  the  sun. 

Just  on  the  bank  of  the  river  is  a  shallow  well  of 
filthy,  stagnant  water  into  which  the  great  multitudes 
of  people  plunge,  imagining  that  all  their  sins  are  left 
behind  when  they  emerge.  There  is  another  well  in 
one  of  the  temples  which  we  visited,  called  "  The 
Well  of  Knowledge."  Into  this  the  people  are  con- 
stantly throwing  offerings  of  various  kinds  of  grain 
and  flowers,  so  that  the  stench  of  the  decaying  mat- 
ter is  extremely  offensive.  But  the  water  is  wonder- 
fully holy,  and  a  priest  sits  continually  drawing  up 
the  putrid  stuff,  which  he  sells  to  devotees.  So  silly 
is  the  superstition  of  these  people.  Indeed  it  is 
impossible  for  me  to  convey  to  my  reader  any  just 
view  of  the  many  silly  things  connected  with  the 
religion  of  the  Hindoos,  or  of  the  extreme  to  which 
the  silliness  is  carried.  They  have  sacred  rivers, 
sacred  trees,  sacred  bulls,  sacred — every  thing, 
almost.  The  monkey  is  especially  sacred.  Images 
of  the  "monkey  god  "  are  very  numerous.  Here  in 
Benares  there  is  a  "monkey  temple,"  which  we  visit- 
ed. About  this  building  there  are  hundreds,  per- 
haps thousands,  of  monkeys.  They  are  all  of  one 
species — a  very  common  and  uninteresting  species. 
Being  fed  here,  they  remain  in  the  vicinity,  but  have 
the  freedom  of  the  neighborhood,  pilfering  every 
exposed  article  of  food,  and  the  superstitious  people 
never  dare  to  treat  them  rudelv.  As  the  custom  of 
visitors  is,  we  purchased  a  few  cents'  worth  of  rice 


228         FROM  CALCUTTA  TO  BENARES. 

and  threw  it  to  them.  They  scrambled  for  it  and 
fought  over  it  as  if  they  might  have  been  mere 
brutes ;  but  these  Hindoos  have  built  them  this  tem- 
ple and  do  actually  worship  them.  Yet  there  are 
not  wanting  educated  Englishmen  who  write  flatter- 
ing things  of  Brahmanism,  and  hold  that  one  form  of 
religion  is  about  as  good  as  another.  Surely,  no 
such  degraded  objects  of  devotion  can  tend  to  any- 
thing else  but  degradation  in  the  worshiper. 

But,  if  the  silliness  of  Hindoo  superstition  were  the 
worst  of  it,  it  would,  though  inconceivably  degrading, 
be  yet  a  noble  thing  compared  to  what  it  really  is. 
The  popular  religion  of  India  is  in  the  last  degree 
depraved.  It  is,  beyond  conception,  evil  in  its  moral 
phases.  Starting  out  with  a  high  conception  of  life, 
it  fell  to  worshiping  the  source  of  life.  From  this 
beginning  it  has  gone  on  in  a  descending  scale  until 
it  has  deified  lust.  The  Hindoo  trinity  are  Bramha, 
Vishnu  and  Mahadeo.  The  symbols  under  which 
this  last  are  worshiped  are  too  gross  to  be  named. 
Yet  these  are  the  very  symbols  which  abound  more 
than  any  other  in  the  temples  at  Benares,  and  in 
many  other  places,  while  our  observation  is  that 
these  symbols  receive  a  more  enthusiastic  devotion 
than  is  paid  to  any  other  images.  The  ardor  of 
women  in  these  devotions  is  a  most  noticeable  fact. 

The  moral  effect  of  this  is  seen  everywhere. 
There  are  no  virtuous  men  in  India.  As  for  the 
women,  no  man  will  trust  his  wife  outside  of  the 
zenana,  except  the  very  poor,  whose  women  are 
compelled  to  labor  for  bread.  The  temples  have  a 
class  of  dancincf-o;irls  connected  with  them  who  are 
said  to  be  married  to  the  gods.     This  is  considered 


FROM  CALCUTTA  TO  BENARES. 


229 


an  honor,  and  a  family  is  proud  when  a  girl  is  chosen 
out  of  it  for  this  distinction.  These  girls  perform 
indecent  dances  in  the  temple-grounds,  at  festivals, 
to  bring  a  crowd  of  people.  They  are  all  prostitutes, 
and  their  hire  goes  into  the  treasury  of  the  temple. 
The  priests,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  do  not  make  any 
pretense  of  sexual  purity.     They  are  all  vile. 

This  picture  is  a  black  one,  but  my  readers  may 
rest  assured  that  it  is  not  overdrawn. 

All  this  is  in  shocking  contrast  with  one  thing  we 
saw  in  China.  Among  the  countless  images  wor- 
shiped in  that  great  Empire,  there  is  not  one  that 
suggests  the  thought  of  impurity.  There  is  no 
approach  to  it.  In  their  symbols  there  is  much  that 
is  grotesque,  much  that  is,  in  some  respects,  shock- 
ing, but  nothing  sensual,  nothing  gross.  So  far  forth 
the  Chinese  are  at -an  infinite  remove  from  the  Hin- 
doos. Yet,  in  the  matter  of  absurdity,  the  worship 
of  the  one  is  on  a  level  with  that  of  the  other.  In 
China  there  is  a  more  abject  fear  of  the  gods  than 
here.  What  a  Chinaman  hopes  for  is  more  to  keep 
his  gods  from  falling  angry  with  him.  He  does  not 
really  look  for  positive  blessing  so  much,  except  it 
may  be  from  the  god  of  riches.  He  is  run  after  and 
courted  a  good  deal. 

I  expressed  the  opinion  with  caution,  in  another 
place,  that  the  situation  in  China  is  really  more 
hopeful  than  in  India.  It  will  be  remembered  that  I 
said  at  the  same  time,  that  my  opportunity  of  obser- 
vation in  India  had  not  been  sufficient  to  justify  a 
decided  expression  of  opinion.  It  is  proper  to 
say  that  my  first  view  here  gave  me  the  most  un- 
favorable   side  of  things.     Whether  the  prospect  is 


23O         FROM  CALCUTTA  TO  BENARES. 

better  here  or  not  is  really  matter  of  no  moment. 
One  thing  is  certain,  the  campaign  is  but  just  opened 
in  both  these  vast  regions.  The  Church  has  not  yet 
begun  to  realize  the  magnitude  of  her  undertaking. 
Consecrated  men  in  great  numbers  will  have  to 
devote  their  lives  to  the  work.  The  spirit  of  prayer 
— the  agony  of  unconquerable  supplication — must 
come  upon  the  universal  Church.  It  is  doubtful  if 
anywhere,  even  in  the  most  spiritual  communities, 
there  is  the  fullness  of  faith,  the  irrepressible  ardor 
of  spirit,  which  must  be  witnessed  before  the  power 
of  heathenism  can  bs  overthrown.  What  a  divine 
momentum  will  that  be  that  will  bear  the  hosts*  of 
God's  elect  forward  against  all  the  forces  that  rise 
against  them,  until  the  faith  of  Christ  shall  over- 
master all  !  Meanwhile  the  work  goes  on — and  I 
say  it  with  deliberation — the  work  goes  on  more 
rapidly  than  the  inadequate  means  employed  by  the 
Church  would  warrant  us  to  expect.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  of  this.  In  proportion  to  the  actual  outlay 
the  results  are  great.  But  in  view  of  the  work  to  be 
done,  and  the  untouched  resources  of  the  Church, 
the  outlay  has.  been  small  indeed.  I  feel  abashed 
before  God  when  I  think  of  it. 

Meanwhile  the  Hindoo  worships  Mahadeo  and  all 
the  brood  of  Satan  with  which  his  mythology 
swarms — the  Chinaman  worships  lords  many  and 
gods  many,  the  spawn  of  his  own  gloomy  imagina- 
tion— and  both  are  dying  in  despair  by  millions, 
while  God  is  robbed  of  his  glory,  and  even  his  own 
elect  people  look  on  with  apathetic  indifference. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

LUCKNOW  AND  CAWXPORE. 

V^HE  ENGLISH  have  India  by  the  throat— and 
the  Sepoy  rebellion,  which  was  a  struggle  of 
the  victim  to  get  loose,  only  tightened  the 
grasp.  Like  the  noose  of  a  lasso,  it  strangles  the 
more  fatally  in  proportion  to  the  strain  of  resistance. 
The  Mutiny  of  1857  demonstrated  this.  It  was  the 
frantic  plunge  of  the  wild  horse  with  his  neck  in  the 
noose.  One  cannot  but  feel  a  measure  of  sympathy 
for  the  victim,  though,  upon  the  whole,  he  may  hold 
with  the  imperious  master.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  India  is  better  off  under  British  rule  than  it  ever 
was  before.  This  rule  is  a  pure  despotism  ;  but  in 
that  respect  it  is  just  the  sort  of  government  India 
has  always  had,  and,  I  suppose,  the  only  sort  it  is  at 
all  prepared  for,  while  it  is  the  most  enlightened  and 
beneficent  despotism  the  country  has  ever  known. 
All  former  despotisms  here  have  been  personal,  the 
people  being  at  the  mercy  of  any  individual  caprice 
of  Mogul  or  Rajah — while  in  this  case  the  despot  is 
the  British  nation,  and  not  any  individual.  Every 
Governor,  at  least  since  the  time  of  Hastings,  feels 
that  he  is  not  a  personal  ruler,  but  that  he  represents 
the  conscience  of  the  English  people,  to  whom  he 
must  account  for  any  inhumanity  of  which  he  may 
be  guilty. 


232  LUCKNOW  AND  CAWNPORE. 

Nor  has  any  one  man  an  unlimited  power  in  India. 
The  representative  of  the  Imperial  Government  is 
the  Viceroy  in  Council.  The  Viceroy  can  do  noth- 
ing except  with  the  concurrence  of  the  Council. 
Besides  that,  there  is  a  Secretary  for  Indian  affairs  in 
the  British  Cabinet  at  home,  who  also  has  his  Coun- 
cil ;  in  addition  to  all  which  the  Parliament  interpo- 
ses at  will,  and  is  the  supreme  authority.  All  this 
secures  a  sense  of  responsibility  among  the  immedi- 
ate rulers  of  India  which  never  obtained  in  former 
times — a  sense  of  responsibility  which  has  secured  *to 
the  people  a  better  government,  certainly,  than  they 
ever  had  before.  Yet  it  is  equally  true  that  the 
authorities  here  maintain  the  authority  they  repre- 
sent by  a  very  strong  assertion  of  power.  Nor  could 
they  otherwise  maintain. it  at  all. 

The  Mogul  Empire,  to  which  the  British  have  suc- 
ceeded, was  itself  an  invasion — so  that  it  is,  after 
all,  only  one  invader  succeeding  to  the  power  of 
another.  It  is  the  Englishman  coming  in  the  place 
of  the  Tartar.  It  was  as  recent  as  the  time  of  Henry 
VIII.  that  Babur  made  the  conquest  of  a  considera- 
ble portion  of  Northern  India.  This  Babur  was  de- 
scended, by  the  father's  side,  from  Timour  (Tamer- 
lane), and  by  the  mother's  from  Genghis  Khan.  He 
was  therefore  a  Tartar  of  the  Tartars,  and  his  sons 
and  successors,  for  a  century  or  two,  justified  the 
illustrious  blood  that  was  in  them.  The  great 
Akbar,  the  son  of  Hoomazoon,  under  whom  the 
Empire  suffered  extreme  fluctuations,  extended  its 
boundaries  quite  into  the  Deccan,  and  for  two  or 
three  generations  the  war-like  Mahrattas  were  more 


LUCKXOW  AND  CAWXPORE.  233 

or    less     completely    subjugated    by    the    imperial 
descendants  of  Babur. 

Yet  the  later  Moguls  could  scarcely  b.e  regarded 
as  foreign  princes,  inasmuch  as  it  was  their  custom 
to  marry  native  princesses.  But  they  were  a  luxu- 
rious race,  spending  in  the  building  of  palaces  and 
mausoleums  what  might  have  sufficed  to  carry  on 
the  Empire.  Taxes,  therefore,  were  enormous,  and 
against  such  oppressions  the  native  princes  not  unfre- 
quently  revolted  with  more  or  less  success.  There 
was  no  law  of  succession  in  the  Mogul  family.  This 
was  the  occasion  of  wars  between  different  claimants 
to  the  imperial  crown.  The  sons  of  Shah  Jehan 
made  war  among  themselves  while  yet  their  father, 
lived.  By  all  these  means  the  Empire  was  weak- 
ened so  as  scarcely  to  be  able  to  maintain  itself 
against  repeated  attacks  of  Mahrattas  and  Jats. 
Moreover,  the  governors  of  provinces  sometimes 
found  themselves  strong  enough  to  be  practically 
independent  of  the  imperial  authority,  so  as  to  be 
able  to  hold  the  authority  and  transmit  it  according 
to  their  own  pleasure. 

As  the  Honorable  East  India  Company  extended 
their  posessions  and  influence  they  found  themselves 
in  this  disjointed  and  decaying  Mogul  Empire.  The 
disintegration  of  the  Empire  occasioned  many  oppor- 
tunities to  the  managers  cf  the  Company  to  extend 
.  their  domain.  This  they  were  not  slow  to  do.  The 
affairs  of  that  great  corporation  were  managed  with 
consummate  ability.  Its  leading  spirits  were  states- 
men of  the  highest  order,  Blunders  were  rare,  A3  a 
rule  the  policy  was  wise,  and  it  was  always  carried 
"Mt  by  &  strong  administration,      British    policy  was 


234 


LUCKNOW  AND  CAWNPORE. 


favored  as  much  by  the  wars  and  jealousies  of  neigh- 
boring rajahs  as  by  the  decaying  state  of  the  Mogul 
Empire.  When  native  princes  succeeded  in  casting 
off  the  yoke  of  the  Moguls  they  began  at  once  to  cut 
each  other's  throats.  In  many  instances  it  seemed 
as  much  a  dictate  of  humanity  as  a  stroke  of  policy 
to  interfere.  The  means  used  were  questionable 
sometimes,  but  never,  I  suppose,  more  so  than  those 
we  have  resorted  to  with  the  American  Indians.  It 
has  been  much  the  custom  with  civilized  people  to 
treat  barbarians  as  if  they  had  no  rights — to  regard 
them  much  in  the  light  of  minor  children,  that  must 
be  both  taken  care  of  and  governed.  Perhaps  it 
would  be  difficult  to  prove  that  this  is  altogether 
wrong.  It  was  the  plea  on  which  African  slavery 
was  justified. 

When  the  charter  of  the  East  India  Company  ex- 
pired— which  was,  I  believe,  only  about  twenty  years 
ago — the  English  Government  took  immediate  con- 
trol of  the  country.  It  had,  in  fact,  governed  the 
Company,  substantially,  even  during  its  existence — 
at  least  in  many  respects — so  that,  so  far  as  India 
was  concerned,  the  change  amounted  to  but  little. 
Within  the  last  year  the  English  Government  has 
declared  itself  an  Empire,  in  view  of  its  possessions 
in  the  East — and  truly  it  is  an  Empire  of  magnificent 
proportions.  Its  possessions  in  the  South  Seas,  in- 
cluding Australia,  would  justify  the  title — while  in 
India,  including  its  possessions  in  Burmah  and  the 
Malayan  Peninsula,  together  with  the  Island  of  Cey- 
lon, it  has,  I  should  say,  twice  the  area  of  the  old 
Mogul  Empire. 

It  does  not  claim  to  govern  the  whole  of  India, 


LUCKXOW  axd  cawxpor£.  23$ 

but  reeognizes  the  independence,  more  or  less  com- 
plete, of  several  native  States,  such  as  Hyderabad 
and  Mysore  in  the  Deccan,  and  Nepaul  in  the  north. 
Nepaul  is  entirely  independent,  but  a  certain  protec- 
torate is  exercised  over  some  of  the  independent 
States.  In  some  cases  this  protectorate  is  of  a  char- 
acter to  make  the  independence  of  the  native  rajah  a 
mere  name.  It  is  given  out  now  that  England  does 
not  desire  to  reduce  any  more  of  the  native  States ; 
but  it  is  easy  to  see  that  events  are  very  liable  to 
take  such  a  turn  as  to  cause  the  absorption  of  many 
of  them.  As  it  is,  the  Empire  has  the  lion's  share. 
The  population  of  the  whole  country  is  250,000,000. 
Of  this  the  British  Empire  exercises  a  direct  gov- 
ernment over  180,000,000,  leaving  about  70,000,000 
under  native  princes. 

It  is  claimed,  and  I  suppose  with  truth,  that  the 
burden  of  taxation  is  greatly  reduced  by  the  Eng- 
lish, and  that  justice  is  much  better  and  more  uni- 
formly administered.  It  is  unquestionable  that  in- 
dustry is  fostered  and  commerce  active  beyond  all 
precedent  of  former  times.  This  the  intelligent  and 
the  ignorant  classes  both  feel.  This  fact  reconciles 
many  to  the  dominancy  of  a  foreign  power,  and 
mitigates  the  bitterness  of  the  cup  with  all,  except 
the  dethroned  rajahs.  Yet  there  is,  wide-spread,  a 
sense  of  vassalage  and  humiliation  which  many 
brood  over  in  a  sullen  way,  until  the  feeling  of  dis- 
content is  believed  to  be  very  general.  It  is  a  com- 
mon opinion  that  the  English  are  heartily  hated  by 
the  natives.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  a  popular 
revolution,  if  it  could   once  gain   sufficient  head  to 


236  LUCKNOW*  AND  CAWXPORE. 

give  it  hope,  would  command  at  once  an  immense 
and  enthusiastic  following. 

The  discontent  grows  in  great  part  out  of  the  mere 
fact  of  the  presence  of  a  governing  class  of  foreign- 
ers, of  a  different  complexion,  and  an  antagonistic 
religion,  who  do  not  identify  themselves  with  the 
country,  but  are  in  every  sense  aliens.  The  English 
official  is  a  man  who  comes  to  play  his  part  in  the 
government  for  a  few  years,  to  get  a  good  salary,  and 
then  go  home.  England  never  ceases  to  be  his 
home — India  is  only  a  place  of  temporary  abode. 
Besides  which,  the  bearing  of  the  average  English- 
man is  such  as  to  aggravate  the  evil.  The  average 
Englishman  despises  the  native — holds  him  in  great 
contempt — and  takes  no  sort  of  pains  to  conceal  the 
fact.  The  Government  does  much  for  the  natives  in 
providing^  facilities  for  the  education  of  the  masses, 
so  far  as  it  can,  and  giving  many  of  them  appoint- 
ments, where  they  are  found  sufficiently  intelligent, 
in  the  post-offices,  and  other  positions  of  profit  and 
trust.  Many  individuals  behave  well  toward  them. 
But  as  a  rule  the  white  man,  in  his  personal  bearing 
toward  the  native,  is  supercilious  and  insulting.  He 
says  and  does  what  he  would  not  dare  to  say  or  do 
to  a  man  of  his  own  color.  Nor  does  the  native  ven- 
ture to  resent  it,  except  in  rare  cases.  He  is  at  a 
disadvantage.  There  is  a  cantonment  of  British  sol- 
diers  at  hand,  and  to  a  man  they  would  espouse  the 
quarrel  of  a  countryman  without  stopping  to  enquire 
who  was  in  the  wrong.  But  the  Hindoo  is  not  a 
block  of  wood.  He  is  often  a  high-spirited  and  most 
sensitive  man,  who  treasures  every  insult  he  receives 
until  his  blood  is  hot.     To  make  the  matter  worse, 


LUCKNOW  AND  CAWNPORE.  237 

he  has  to  smother   down   the  fire ;  otherwise  it  would 
blaze  up  only  to  die  out.     As  it  is,  it  never  dies. 

All  this  the  Englishman  knows,  but  he  cares 
nothing  about  it.  He  feels  secure,  and  with  reason. 
The  Government  is  strong  enough  to  trample  out 
any  rebellion  before  it  could  organize  itself  or  gather 
any  resources.  There  is  no  unity  nor  good  under- 
standing among  the  native  princes.  There  is  no 
common  center.  Even  if  there  was,  the  English 
soldier  is  a  match  for  twenty  native  soldiers  under 
native  offcers ;  witness  all  the  wars  in  which  the 
matter  has  been  tested.  Did  not  a  mere  handful 
of  men,  at  Lucknow,  in  1857,  sheltered  by  the  frail- 
est works,  defend  themselves  for  months  against  a 
mad  multitude  of  assailants,  outnumbering  them 
forty  or  fifty  to  one  ?  Did  not  7,000  English  soldiers 
invest  Delhi,  protected  as  it  was  by  strong  works  at 
all  points,  and  defended  by  a  well-organized  native 
garrison  of  70,000  or  80,000,  and  after  a  siege  of  a 
few  weeks,  storm  the  works  and  carry  the  place  at 
the  point  of  the  bayonet  ?  Amongst  themselves  the 
natives  show  no  want  of  courage.  They  have  done 
much  hard  fighting  in  times  past.  But  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  English  they  seem  to  expect  defeat. 

Our  visit  to  Lucknow  and  Cawnpore  would  have 
but  little  interest  for  us,  but  for  two  facts  :  the  first  of 
which  was  that  they  were  both  scenes  of  dreadful 
conflict  in  the  time  of  the  Mutiny.  At  Lucknow  we 
saw  and  examined  the  ruins  of  the  Residency. 
Lucknow  was  the  capital  and  residence  of  the  King 
of  Oude.  Before  the  Mutiny  there  was  a  British 
Resident  here.  The  Resident  is  a  man  who  is  placed 
near  a  native  prince  whom  the  English  think  it  best 


2$S  LUCKNOW  AND  CAWNPORE. 

to  watch  and  control.  Generally  where  there  is  a 
Resident  there  is  a  camp  of  soldiers.  Sir  H.  Law- 
rence was  the  Resident  at  the  Court  of  Oude  in  1857. 
He  and  his  squad  of  soldiers,  when  hostilities  began, 
established  lines  of  defense  around  the  Residency,  so 
extensive,  compared  with  the  strength  of  the  garri- 
son, that  they  could  scarcely  be  said  to  be  manned,  in 
any  proper  sense  of  the  word.  There  was  a  sort  of 
tower  and  observatory  connected  with  the  Resi- 
dency-building, which  served  as  an  outlook  from 
which  the  movements  of  the  enemy  could  be  discov- 
ered in  every  direction,  and  signaled  to  the  garrison 
at  every  point.  The  Residency,  and  especially  the 
observatory,  was  the  object  of  a  furious  cannonade 
for  weeks.  The  man  on  duty  always  felt  himself  to 
be  a  target  for  cannon-balls.  Whether  any  one  was 
killed  at  his  post  I  know  not,  but  certainly  I  should 
think  there  must  have  been  several,  for  the  top  of 
the  tower  is  all  shivered.  The  walls  of  the  building 
below  also  show  many  openings  made  by  the  crash 
of  heavy  shot. 

The  basement-rooms  of  the  Residency  were  occu- 
pied by  ladies,  the  wives  and  daughters  of  officers 
and  soldiers,  who  lived  here  during  all  that  fearful 
time,  and  who,  in  addition  to  their  own  sufferings 
from  the  excessive  heat — it  was  July — the  want  of 
ventilation  and  consequent  sickness,  had  all  the  care 
of  the  wounded  and  dying.  But  they  were  as  heroic 
as  the  men.  This  shattered  building  is  carefully 
preserved  in  the  condition  in  which  the  Mutiny  left  it. 

We  approached  it  by  a  massive  gateway  that  led 
into  the  grounds,  and  which  is  still  standing,  itself 
also  bearing  the  mark  of  many  a  ball.     Through  this 


LUCKNOW  AND  CAWNPORE.  239 

gate  Havelock  entered,  coming  with  another  mere 
handful  to  relieve  the  besieged  garrison.  He 
actually  fought  his  way  through  the  city  and  through 
the  dense  masses  of  the  besiegers,  and  with  compar- 
atively little  loss  entered  the  garrison.  Imagine  the 
feelings  of  those  men  who  had  been  shut  in,  looking 
at  any  moment  for  their  works  to  be  stormed,  and 
they  put  to  death  to  a  man,  when  their  friends 
reached  them  !  But  the  arrival  of  Havelock  did  not 
relieve  the  garrison.  The  two  forces  united  were 
altogether  insufficient  for  that.  Both  Lawrence  and 
Havelock  died  there.  But  English  pluck  and  endu- 
rance were  equal  to  the  situation,  and  relief  did 
come  at  last.  It  does  not  fall  in  with  the  scope  of 
my  purpose,  however,  to  write  a  history  of  this  war. 
What  I  have  said  will  serve  to  indicate  the  superior- 
ity of  the  European,  and  the  strength  of  the  British 
power  in  India.  The  military  power  seems  to  be 
irresistible.  So  far  as  I  can  see,  it  is  likely  to  be 
perpetual. 

From  Lucknow  we  went  to  Cawnpore,  where  are 
two  monuments  of  peculiar  interest  to  Englishmen — 
the  Memorial  Well  anc  the  Memorial  Church.  They 
commemorate  the  massacres  ordered  by  Doondhoo 
Punth,  the  Nana  Sahib — commonly  called  The  Infa- 
mous. After  deceiving  the  English  into  the  belief 
that  he  was  their  friend,  he  attacked  the  little  garri- 
son, which  defended  itself  in  imperfect  works  against 
overwhelming  odds  for  three  weeks.  At  the  end  of 
this  time  their  provisions  failed,  and  they  capitulated 
on  promise  of  safe  escort  to  Allahabad,  but  as  they 
were  getting  into  boats  a  horrible  massacre  was 
begun.     Some  were  already  in  the  boats  when  the 


24O  LUCKNOW  AND  CAWNPORE. 

thatch  covers  were  set  on  fire.  Simultaneously  with 
this,  a  fire  of  grape  and  musketry  was  opened  upon 
them.  Only  four  escaped  to  tell  the  tale.  The  men 
who  were  not  slaughtered  on  the  spot  were  driven 
off  and  shot  elsewhere.  The  women  and  children, 
of  whom  there  were  about  two  hundred,  were  impris- 
oned in  a  large  house  called  Beebeeghur.  Another 
company  of  captives  from  Futtehgurh,  over  fifty  in 
number,  mostly  women  and  children,  were  soon 
crowded  in  with  them.  What  they  suffered,  crowded 
so  in  the -dog-days,  not  one  survivor  remained  to  tell. 
On  the  approach  of  Havelock  they  were  all  murdered 
and  thrown  into  a  well.  Think  of  that  work  of  slaugh- 
ter upon  two  hundred  women  and  children  crowded 
together  in  a  house  !  It  appears  that  volleys  were 
first  fired  in  upon  them  through  doors  and  windows, 
and  then  men  went  in  to  finish  the  work.  Then  the 
house  was  closed  and  left  for  the  night,  while  some, 
it  is  believed,  were  not  yet  dead.  There  is  even  a 
suspicion  that  when  they  were  thrown  into  the  well, 
the  next  day,  there  were  still  some  in  whom  life  was 
not  yet  extinct. 

When  Havelock  arrived  they  were  all  gone.  Not 
one  survived.  An  eye-witness  says  :  "  There  were 
no  dead  bodies,  except  in  the' well.  The  well  was 
narrow  and  deep  ;  and,  looking  down,  you  could  see 
only  a  tangled  mass  of  human  limbs,  entirely  without 
clothing." 

This  well  was  filled  up,  the  ground  being  raised 
into  a  mound.  On  that  a  small,  neat  monument  to 
the  victims  has  been  erected,      I. a  roe  grounds,  full  of 

shrubbery.  av<T1   laid  off.   and   neatly  kept  surround 

■      ■ ,         - 


LUCKNOW  AND  CAWNPORE.  24I 

it.     No  native  is  ever  allowed  to  enter  this  inclosure, 
without  a  special  permit. 

The  Memorial  Church  stands  on  the  grounds  occu- 
pied by  "  Wheeler's  Intrenchment,"  where  the  little 
squad  defended  themselves  against  Nana  Sahib's 
army  of  many  thousands,  until  their  provisions  failed. 
They  made  repeated  sorties,  always  driving  the 
enemy  before  them.  Their  feeble  breastworks  were 
almost  demolished  by  the  Nana's  artillery,  yet  his 
men  never  dared  to  enter.  Yet  from  official  data,  it 
appears  that  the  garrison  consisted  of  the  following 
troops  only : 

One  battery,  6  guns,  men  59 

Infantry,  Her  Majesty's  84th      "     60 
Invalids,     "  "  33d      "      74 

First  Madras  Fusileers,  "      15 

The  Memorial  Church  is  a  great  and  gloomy-look- 
ing structure.  As  a  work  of  art  and  as  a  place  of 
worship  it  is  a  failure. 

At  Lucknowr  we  were  very  cordially  received  by 
the  Rev.  J.  H.  Messmore  and  the  Rev.  J.  Mudge,  of 
the  India  Conference  of  the  M.  E.  Church.  The 
former  is  the  pastor  of  the  Church,  and  the  latter 
editor  of  the  Lucknow  Witness,  the  official  organ  of 
the  Church  in  India.  Here  we  spent  a  Sunday,  and 
preached  at  the  hour  for  English  service,  to  a  full 
and  attentive  congregation. 

At  Cawnpore,  Dr.  Waugh  had  got  wind  of  our 
approach,  and  met  us  at  the  station  at  eleven  o'clock 
at  night.  What  delightful  hospitality  we  had  under 
his  roof!  He  could  not  tire  of  talking  about  the 
kindness  he  had  fp%  <-ived  in  Shanghai  at  the  hnn<i- 
of  Mr  and  Mrs.  I  .amhuth 


242  LUCKNOW  AND  CAWNPORE. 

Both  in  Cawnpore  and  Lucknow  the  M.  E.  Church 
has  a  considerable  Society  among  the  English-speak- 
ing people.  The  missionaries  of  this  Church  did  not 
get  to  work  until  after  the  Mutiny,  less  than  twenty 
years  ago.  The  blessing  of  God  has  been  upon  their 
labors  in  a  remarkable  degree.  They  have  pros- 
pered, for  the  time  they  have  been  at  work,  beyond 
what  is  usual  in  other  Missions.  So  far  as  we  have 
had  the  opportunity  of  judging,  the  missionaries  are 
men  full  of  energy,  and  greatly  devoted  to  their 
work.  There  is  an  Annual  Conference  organized, 
with  four  Presiding  Elders'  Districts.  There  are 
numerous  schools,  and  a  Theological  Seminary.  A 
number  of  native  preachers  have  been  raised  up, 
some  of  whom  wrould  be  a  credit  to  the  Church  any- 
where. Two  thousand  memberSj  and  more,  count- 
ing probationers,  have  been  gathered,  and  brought 
to  a  good  state  of  discipline,  while  the  increase  goes 
on  at  a  very  encouraging  rate. 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  success  of  this  work 
is  largely  due  to  the  pozver  of  preacliing.  One  diffi- 
culty in  the  work  of  Missions — so  it  has  struck  me — 
is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  missionary,  beginning  to 
preach  in  a  new  language  which  he  does  not  use  with 
facility,  finds  it  difficult  to  get  into  the  spirit  of  his 
theme,  and,  by  the  time  he  has  got  to  feel  at  home 
in  the  language,  he  has  fallen  into  a  hum-drum  habit 
that  has  little  of  real  hortatory  power  in  it.  From 
several  circumstances  I  am  led  to  believe  the  Ameri- 
can Methodists  have  risen  to  a  better  standard  of 
extemporaneous  freedom  and  fervor  than  is  common 
here.  This  is  no  less  essential  in  preaching  to  the 
heathen    than    to   the   unconverted   at   home.      The 


LUCKXOW  AND  CAWXPORE.  243 

heathen  are  not  converted  by  arguments,  but  by  the 
"testimony  of  Jesus."  The  power  of  the  witness  is 
the  condition  of  success  with  the  missionary.  See 
Acts  i :  8.  It  is  not  logic  that  conquers  hearts  ;  it  is 
Christ.  The  voice  of  the  earnest  witness  of  Christ 
is  more  potent  with  the  common  run  of  men  than  all 
the  dialectics  of  the  world,  from  Aristotle  to  Bledsoe. 
The  work  of  the  Rev.  Win.  Taylor,  in  India,  is  a 
striking  illustration  of  this.  At  the  beginning  of  this 
decade  he  began  a  series  of  special  labors  among  the 
English-speaking  people  of  the  cities,  especially  in 
the  central  and  southern  part  of  the  country.  Relig- 
ion was  confessedly  at  a  low  ebb.  The  Churches 
were  eminently  formal  and  lifeless.  But  few  of  the 
Europeans  were  religious  even  in  a  formal  way. 
Many  of  them  were  shamelessly  wicked.  The  Eura- 
sians, sometimes  called  Indo-Europeans,  were,  as  a 
class,  dissolute  even  to  recklessness.  Like  the  mulat- 
toes  of  America,  they  had  their  origin  in  sin,  most  of 
them,  though  the  great  majority  now  have  their 
existence  through  one  or  two,  or  more,  generations 
of  lawful  marriage.  They  are  despised  and  hated  by 
the  Hindoos,  and  have  been  in  former  times,  and,  to 
a  considerable  extent  still  are,  by  the  English.  Both 
among  the  English  and  the  Eurasians  the  preaching 
of  Taylor  produced  a  wonderful  effect.  Widespread 
revivals  prevailed  in  Bombay,  Calcutta,  and  many 
other  places.  The  converts  were  not  willing  to  go 
into  the  formal  Churches  accessible  to  them.  In 
Bombay  they  petitioned  Mr.  Taylor,  in  a  formal 
way,  to  organize  a  Church.  Many  derided  the  work 
as  mere  excitement,  which  would  soon  die  out.  But, 
after  five  years,  it  has  borne  the  test.     Backslidings 


244  LUCKNOW  AND  CAWNPORE. 

have  been  remarkably  few,  while  the  Churches  show 
an  unusual  per  cent,  of  men  and  women  actively 
engaged  in  the  work  of  Christ.  The  spiritual  aroma 
of  their  public  assemblies  is  like  odors  wafted  from 
the  garden  of  God.  It  is  the  richest  perfume  we 
have  inhaled  anywhere  in  the  Orient,  except  in  the 
Conference  and  love-feast  at  Shanghai. 

Out  of  this  work  a  separate  Annual  Conference 
has  been  organized — the  South  India  Conference. 
It  is  a  self-sustaining  Conference,  receiving  no  aid 
from  the  Missionary  Board.  Every  circuit  supports 
its  own  preachers,  and  undertakes  to  go  into  the 
regions  accessible,  in  missionary  labors  among  the 
heathen,  besides.  So  far  the  experiment  is  wonder- 
fully satisfactory.  The  Churches  are  remarkably 
liberal  in  supporting  their  pastors,  and  are  beginning 
to  build  good  churches  and  parsonages,  thus  anchor- 
ing themselves  in  the  country  by  real  estate  titles. 
This  will  be  found  to  constitute  an  epoch  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Church  in  India. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

SHAHJEHANABAD,  AKBARABAD,  ALLAHABAD. 

WHAT  IS  THAT,  Ramsan?'  Ramsan  was 
the  name  of  the  guide  we  employed  the  two 
days  we  were  at  Dehli.  "What  is  that?" 
"That  is  a  tomb,  sir?':  "And  those  on  the  right, 
all  those?  what  are  they,  Ramsan  ? '  "  Tombs,  sir." 
"On  the  left,  here;  what  are  these?"  "Tombs,  sir." 
"Far  out  there,  on  the  edge  of  the  horizon,  what  are 
those?"     "  Tombs,  sir." 

We  were  on  our  way  from  the  city  of  Dehli  to  the 
great  tower,  named  the  Kootub,  eleven  miles  distant, 
and  were  driving  through  a  space  which  had  been 
occupied  in  past  ages  by  the  old  city  of  Dilli  or 
Delli,  which  shifted  its  site  several  times.  Nothing 
now  remains  but  old  bricks,  lying,  some  buried  and 
some  exposed,  and — Tombs  !  These  mausoleums  are 
of  various  sizes,  mostly  very  large  buildings,  and  all 
surmounted  with  oval  domes.  Some  are  much  dilap- 
idated, others  still  quite  well  preserved.  They  are  of 
various  ages,  but  none  of  them,  probably,  dating  from 
any  very  great  antiquity.-  But  there  they  stand,  wit- 
nessing the  greatness  of  old  kings  and  conquerors, 
and  the  triumph  of  death  over  all.  He  is  the  one 
imperial  majesty  whose  conquests  will  never  slacken 
until  the  time  of  his  sudden  and  final  overthrow  by 
the  "  Blessed  and  only  Potentate."     When  he  shall 


246  tWO  DAYS  IN  DEHLI. 

"abolish  death  "  he  will  leave  neither  ruins  nor  tombs 
to  commemorate  the  long  reign  of  the  destroyer.  In 
the  "new  heavens  and  the  new  earth"  there  shall  be 
"no  more  death,"  nor  any  memorial  of  his  fallen 
power. 

The  Mogul  Empire  seems  not  to  have  had  a  fixed 
and  permanent  capital,  but  the  cities  of  Agra  and 
Dehli  enjoyed  that  distinction  alternately,  and  per- 
haps other  places  were  for  a  time  the  seats  of  power. 

Agra  was  named  Akbarabad,  from  the  great 
Akbar,  who  built  its  fort  and  enriched  it  with  mag- 
nificent palaces  and  mosques. 

The  present  Dehli  is  a  modern  city,  and  was  built 
by  the  grandson  of  Akbar,  Shah  Jehan,  and  named 
for  himself,  Shahjehanabad.  The  old  name  was  Dilli 
or  Delli,  and  this  has  superseded  the  clumsy  Shah- 
jehanabad, but  the  affectation  of  modern  literateurs 
has  changed  the  orthography  to  Dehli,  sometimes 
Delhi;  but  the  uniform  pronunciation  is  Da-le,  or 
Delle.  The  Ji  is  never  sounded.  The  English  spell- 
ing of  Oriental  words  and  names  is  arbitrary  and 
capricious  in  the  extreme. 

This  Emperor,  Shah  Jehan,  had  a  passion  for 
building,  and  had,  also,  the  resources  to  gratify  his 
taste.  Akbar  had  bequeathed  a  vast  empire  to  his 
successors,  and  Shah  Jehan  enjoyed  it  after  two 
generations  of  comparative  peace  had  consolidated 
it  and  brought  its  revenues  up  to  their  highest  point. 
It  seemed  to  be  his  greatest  ambition  to  build 
palaces,  musjids  (mosques),  and  tombs,  on  a  larger 
and  more  magnificent  scale  than  India  had  ever 
witnessed.  This,  indeed,  was  no  small  undertaking, 
for  the  tomb   of  Hoomayoon,   near  the  site   of  old 


TWO  DAYS  IN  DEHLI.  247 

Dehli,  and  that  of  Akbar,  at  Secundra,  were  among 
the  most  magnificent  structures  of  any  age  or 
country — magnificent  both  in  their  dimensions  and 
in  the  richness  of  the  material  used,  as  well  as  in  the 
elaborate  detail  of  exquisite  finish.  People  here  are 
fond  of  quoting  from  Bishop  Heber,  "  These  Pagans 
designed  like  Titans  and  executed  like  jewelers." 

The  great  buildings  erected  by  him  at  Dehli  were 
"The  Hail  of  Public  Audience,"  "The  Hall  of 
Private  Audience,"  "  The  Bath  House  "  of  the 
harem,  his  own  private  apartments  and  bath-rooms, 
"The  Pearl  Mosque,"  and  the  "Jumma  Musjid." 

The  Hall  of  Public  Audience  is  a  roof  resting  on 
red  sandstone  columns  and  arches  of  a  peculiar 
character,  forming  an  open  court,  on  one  side  of 
which — the  only  side  which  has  a  wall — was  the 
throne,  which  is  ten  or  twelve  feet  above  the  pave- 
ment. Below  and  in  front  of  the  throne  was  the 
seat  of  the  ministers  of  State.  From  this  throne  the 
Emperor  heard  causes  and  administered  justice.  By 
a  flight  of  solid  stone  steps  in  the  wall  we  ascended 
to  this  old  seat  of  Imperial  magnificence,  and  looked 
out  into  the  hall  where  men  came  to  get  justice  at 
the  hands  of  the  Mogul.  The  hall  is  imposing  from 
the  number  and  height  of  its  stone  columns,  and  the 
scene  must  have  been  impressive  when  the  extended 
area  was  crowded,  as  no  doubt  it  often  was,  by  men 
in  Oriental  costume,  and  graced  by  the  flash  and 
glitter  of  imperial  insignia. 

Back  of  this,  sheltered  from  all  vulgar  approach, 
on  the  bank  of  the  river  Jumna,  a  confluent  of  the 
Ganges,  on  which  the  city  is  built,  is  the  Hall  of 
Private  Audience.    This,  too,  is  an  open  court,  a  roof 


248  TWO  DAYS  IN  DEIII.I. 

on  columns.  The  area  is  not  so  great  as  that  of  the 
Hall  of  Public  Audience,  nor  the  pillars  so  high  ;  but 
in  every  other  respect  it  surpasses  it — beyond  com- 
parison, I  was  going  to  say.  Pavement,  columns, 
arches,  are  all  of  the  finest  marble — pure  white.  On 
portions  of  it  there  are  chiseled,  in  relief,  and  by 
skillful  artists,  figures  of  foliage  and  flowers  in  suffi- 
cient, but  not  too  great,  profusion.  In  other  parts 
there  are  flowers  inlaid  with  colored  stone — very 
beautiful.  The  ceiling  was  once  covered  all  over 
with  heavy  filigree  work  of  gold  and  silver,  but  this 
has  been  removed  by  vandal  and  greedy  conquer- 
ors. The  general  proportions  of  the  structure  are 
such  as  to  give  it  an  air  of  great  elegance.  It  is 
flanked  on  two  sides  by  structures  as  elegant  as 
itself,  and  on  the  south  it  overlooks  the  river. 

How  well  the  Emperor  was  satisfied  with  the  work 
of  the  artist  may  be  inferred  from  an  inscription  he 
caused  to  be  carved  in  solid  marble  just  above  the 
arches  on  the  eastern  end,  in  the  Persian  character, 
"  If  there  be  a  paradise  on  earth  it  is  this." 

To  the  west,  and  only  a  few  paces  distant,  are 
the  private  apartments  and  bath-room  of  the 
Emperor.  It,  too,  is  of  white  marble,  not  an  open 
court,  though  very  airy  and  well  ventilated.  The 
side  next  the  hall  is  of  marble  screen-work — that  is, 
thin  marble  slabs  are  cut  through  and  through  with 
openings  of  various  though  uniform  pattern,  giving 
the  whole  a  light  and  very  artistic  aspect.  A  small 
door  opens  through  the  screen-work,  through  which 
the  Emperor  emerged  when  he  went  out  to  give 
audience,  Over  this  door,  chiseled  in  the  marble,  in 
full  but  not  very  high  relief,  is  the  figure  of  Justice 


TWO  DAYS  IN  DEHLI.  249 

holding  the  balances,  on  a  background  which  I  sup- 
pose was  meant  to  represent  the  heavens.  It  is  in 
the  traditions  of  the  Mussulmans  here — so  Ramsan, 
who  is  himself  a  Mohammedan,  told  us — that  the 
great  Mogul  used  to  pause  and  contemplate  this 
figure  with  solemnity  before  he  went  out  to  an 
audience,  reminding  himself  of  the  justice  that  is  in 
those  heavens,  to  which  even  the  greatest  monarchs 
are  equally  amenable  with  the  lowliest  men.  The 
pavement  in  this  building  is  of  marble.  The  build- 
ing is  not  large.  The  central  room  is  the  bath. 
The  center  of  the  room  is  occupied  by  a  vat  sunk 
from  the  level  of  the  floor  to  a  depth  of  about  three 
feet,  and  lined  first  with  water-proof  cement,  and 
then  inside  of  that  with  marble.  This  was  filled  at 
pleasure  from  a  fountain,  and  then  emptied  with  equal 
facility.  On  the  side  toward  the  river  is  a  projecting 
room  like  a  bay  window,  which,  it  is  said,  was  the 
bed-chamber.  The  whole  structure  is  only  one  story 
high.  This,  it  will  be  remembered,  is  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Hall  of  Private  Audience,  and  removed 
from  it  a  few  paces. 

East  of  the  Hall,  and  at  a  somewhat  greater  dis- 
tance from  it,  is  the  bath-house  of  the  harem.  It  is 
of  white  marble,  plain  but  elegant.  North  of  this 
bath,  and  adjoining  it,  is  the  inclosure  of  the  Pearl 
Mosque.  The  outside  walls  are  of  red  sandstone, 
but  the  interior  is  of  pure  white  marble.  It  is  small, 
being  designed  only  for  imperial  use ;  but  the  plan  is 
perfect,  the  material  of  the  finest,  and  the  finish 
exquisite.  Pillars,  arches,  and  groined  ceiling,  all 
of  solid  marble,  are  set  off  by  inlaid  flowers  of  pre- 
cious stones  of  varied  colors.     The  ornamentation  is 


2$0  TWO  DAYS  IN  JDEHLI, 

elaborate,  but  not  overdone.  Surely  a  Mogul  might 
worship  in  such  a  place  with  a  sense  of  imperial  piety, 
relieved  of  every  suspicion  that  he  was  before  God 
only  a  common  mortal. 

Another  building  in  Dehli,  some  distance  from 
these,  remains  a  monument  of  the  architectural  taste 
and  munificence  of  Shah  Jehan.  It  is  the  Jumma 
Musjid.  It  stands  on  the  west  side  of  a  large  quad- 
rangular pavement.  This  pavement  is  itself  elevated, 
I  should  think,  some  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  ground.  You  ascend  to  it  by  flights  of 
stone  steps  from  the  east,  south,  and  north  sides. 
At  the  top  of  the  steps,  on  each  side,  is  a  massive 
gate.  Near  the  south-east  and  north-east  corners 
are  sun-dials  on  low  stone  pillars,  cut  on  the  top  of 
the  pillar.  The  pavement  or  terrace  is  completely 
surrounded  by  the  mosque  itself  standing  on  the 
west  side,  and  a  colonnade  of  red  sandstone  on  the 
other  three  sides.  In  the  center  is  a  tank  filled  with 
stagnant  water  where  the  worshipers  can  perform 
their  ablutions.  At  the  north-east  corner  of  the  ter- 
race is  a  little  room  with  a  strong  box  in  it  which 
contains  some  sacred  relics — among  others  a  sandal 
worn  by  Mohammed  and  a  hair  of  his  beard.  An 
accommodating  mullah  will  show  you  these  sacred 
treasures  for  a  small  fee.  I  saw  them  with  a  party 
of  three  for  two  annas — two  cents — apiece.  It  is  a 
pity,  if  such  holy  things  are  to  be  made  merchandise 
of,  that  they  should  not  command  a  better  price. 
There  are  also  manuscript  copies  of  the  Koran  in 
the  handwriting  of  a  grandson  of  the  prophet.  The 
sight  of  that  was  included  in  the  fee. 

The  Musjid  (Mosque)  itself  is  a  stupendous  build- 


TWO  DAYS  IN  DEHLI.  25  I 

ing,  201  feet  by  120,  surmounted  by  three  cupolas  of 
white  marble  which  are  also  themselves  crowned 
with  culices  of  copper  richly  gilt.  The  front  is  open, 
the  roof  being  supported  by  massive  columns.  The 
other  three  sides  are  walls.  This  is  the  general  style 
of  mosques  in  this  part  of  India.  The  work  on  this 
is  very  beautiful,  much  of  it  being  faced  with  white 
marble,  and,  like  all  the  buildings  of  this  monarch, 
the  architectural  proportions  are  perfect.  I  say  per- 
fect, for  I  can  find  no  fault  with  them.  Let  it  be  un- 
derstood, though,  that  I  do  not  pretend  to  be  a  com- 
petent critic  in  such  matters  ;  while  one  of  them,  at 
least,  has  been  severely  criticised.  But  the  archi- 
tects he  employed  were  certainly  men  of  rare  genius. 
The  inevitable  two  minarets  are  here,  from  the  lofty 
summits  of  which,  in  the  good  old  Mogul  times,  the 
shrill  voice  of  the  Muezzin  used  to  call  the  faithful 
to  prayer.  They  are  130  feet  high,  and  give  a  fine 
view  of  the  city  and  surrounding  country.  We  saw 
the  Kootub  Miliar,  eleven  miles  distant,  distinctly. 

We  reserved  the  Kootub  Minar  for  the  next  day. 
An  early  drive  took  us  past  the  Junter  Munter,  or 
Observatory — a  building  in  which  a  scientific  man 
would  take  an  interest,  I  suppose — and  Shufter 
Jung's  Mausoleum,  a  magnificent  edifice  which  I  will 
not  take  time  to  describe.  Two  miles  to  the  left  the 
great  dome  of  Hoomagoon's  tomb  dominated  the 
whole  landscape.  I  may  as  well  pause  to  say  that 
this,  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  mausoleums  of  India, 
is,  to  my  eye,  one  of  the  most  perfect  as  a  work  of 
art.  It  was  built  by  Haji  Begum,  the  widow  of  the 
Emperor  whose  tomb  it  contains.  The  most  re- 
nowned of  Indian  archaeologists,  Gen.  Cunningham, 


2$2  TWO  DAYS  IN  DEHLI. 

says,  "it  is  the  earliest  specimen  of  the  architecture 
of  the  Mogul  dynasty."  It  is  easy  to  see  that,  if  this 
is  the  case,  it  furnished  the  model  for  what  followed. 
The  general  plan  of  the  world-renowned  Taj  Mahal, 
at  Agra,  is  the  same,  with  differences  of  detail.  In 
the  language  of  Cunningham  :  "  The  exterior  form  of 
the  main  body  of  the  tomb  is  a  square  with  the  cor- 
ners cut  off,  or  an  octagon  with  four  long  and  four 
short  faces,  and  each  of  the  short  faces  forms  one 
side  of  the  four  octagonal-corner  towers.  The  dome 
is  built  entirely  of  white  marble,  the  rest  of  the  build- 
ing being  of  red  sandstone,  with  inlaid  ornaments  of 
white  marble.  An  innovation  in  this  building  is  the 
narrow-necked  dome." 

The  building  is  elevated  upon  two  terraces  which 
raise  it  to  a  very  commanding  eminence.  The  upper 
terrace  was  surrounded  by  screen-work  of  cut  stone; 
but  the  greater  part  of  this  has  disappeared.  The 
lower  terrace  is  but  three  feet  high,  while  the  upper 
rises  above  this  on  arches  twenty  feet.  Through  the 
arches  are  passages  into  the  interior,  which  is  filled 
with  smaller  tombs  of  various  members  of  his  family. 
My  guide-book  is  kind  enough  to  inform  me  that  this 
tomb  has  not  the  beauty  of  that  of  Shufter  Jung, 
but  I  must  ask  the  guide-book's  pardon  for  once. 

But  I  cannot  pause.  The  great  Kootub  Minar 
calls  me,  and  I  am  not  to  get  breakfast  until  I  have 
climbed  to  the  top  of  it — no  slight  job.  The  road 
lies  through  the  wilderness  of  tombs  to  which  the 
reader  was  introduced  at  the  outset  of  this  chapter. 
For  let  it  be  remembered  that  Dehli  was  a  seat  of 
royalty  before  ever  Mogul  or  Mussulman  had 
appeared.     The  old  Hindoo  kings  reigned  here  until 


TWO  DAYS  IN  DEHLI.  253 

the  twelfth  century.  Then  came  the  Mohammedan 
conquest;  then  four  centuries  later  came  the  Moguls, 
and  they,  too,  were  Mohammedans.  Some  of  the 
oldest  of  these  funereal  structures  are  supposed  to 
antedate  the  Mussulman  era.  I  can  well  believe  it. 
They  are  the  monuments  of  dead  empires  as  well  as 
dead  men.  In  the  gloaming,  one  might  fancy  them 
all  full  of  ghosts.  The  dark  discoloration  produced 
by  this  climate  on  all  stones  except  polished  marble 
gives  them  a  somber  aspect,  as  if  they  were  in 
mourning  for  the  lost  glory  they  commemorate. 
But  the  air  is  fresh,  and  we  whirl  along  among  them 
at  a  rapid  pace. 

Arrived  at  the  neighborhood  of  the  Kootub,  we 
left  our  carriage  at  the  Dak  Bungalow,  and  visited 
some  rude  old  buildings  which  I  will  not  undertake 
to  describe.  We  also  saw  a  celebrated  well,  very 
large,  and  of  an  oblong  square  figure.  At  the 
mouth  it  must  be  fifty  feet  by  fifteen.  The  side-walls 
and  the  south-end  wall  are  perpendicular,  but  that  at 
the  north  end  descends  by  terraces  to  the  water's 
edges  thirty-five  feet.  No  sooner  did  we  appear  at  the 
north  end  than  a  man  leaped  from  the  perpendicular 
wall  at  the  other  end — a  sheer  descent  of  thirtv-nve 
feet.  At  first  he  drew  up  his  legs  and  went  whizzing 
down  ;  but  as  he  came  near  the  surface  of  the  water 
he  brought  his  feet  together,  stretched  his  legs 
straight,  and  disappeared.  He  was  soon  up  again, 
and  climbing  the  terraced  wall  toward  us.  Five 
men  and  boys  made  this  plunge  in  two  or  three 
minutes,  and  then  clamored  for  "  backsheesh." 

All  minor  objects  exhausted,  including  a  wonder- 


254  TWO  DAYS  IN  DEHLI. 

ful  iron  pillar,  with  a  wonderful  heathen  legend,  let 
us  now  proceed  to  our  great  Minar. 

The  Kootub  Minar  is  said  to  be  the  highest  column, 
standing  by  itself,  in  all  the  world,  being  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty-eight  feet  one  inch  above  the  level 
of  the  ground.  The  diameter  of  the  house  is  forty- 
seven  feet  two  inches.  It  is  six  stories  high,  and 
fluted  in  the  lower  stories.  In  some  stories  the  flutes 
are  all  circular,  in  some  all  angular,  and  in  one  they 
are  alternately  circular  and  angular.  The  column  is 
just  five  diameters  in  height.  The  circumference  of 
the  base  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  diameter  of  the 
six  stories.  A  circular  interior  flight  of  stairs  ascends 
to  the  top. 

There  is  some  doubt  as  to  the  history  of  this  singu- 
lar structure,  but,  from  inscriptions  on  it,  it  seems  to 
have  been  built  by  Mussulman  sovereigns  in  the  thir- 
teenth century,  and  probably  for  religious  purposes, 
partly,  and  partly  for  a  mausoleum.  It  bears  the 
ninety-nine  Arabic  names  of  the  Almighty,  and  also 
eulogistic  inscriptions  to  two  or  three  Sultans,  with 
unpronounceable  and  outlandish  names  with  which  I 
will  not  deface  my  paper. 

At  any  rate,  I  must  stand  on  the  summit  before  I 
can  touch  my  breakfast,  and  the  Dak  Bungalow 
begins  to  be  a  very  desirable  place.  There  are 
choice  mutton  chops  there,  and  the  sweetest  and 
crispest  of  sliced  breakfast  bacon,  fried,  and  such 
luscious  eggs,  and  coffee  that  would  tempt  an  old 
Mogul  in  his  tomb  if  he  could  but  sniff  it.  But  not  a 
morsel  can  I  touch  till  I  go  up — up  there — and  then 
come  down  again.  Well,  here  goes — up,  up,  up,  up, 
up.     Here  we  are  at  last,  puffing  and  perspiring,  with 


TWO  GAYS  IN*  DEHL1.  2$$ 

all  the  world  at  our  feet.  Alas  !  the  atmosphere  is 
heavy,  and  we  can  see  nothing  at  a  distance.  But 
in  the  near  view  we  have  in  full  sight  the  following 
"familiar"  objects — as  per  guide-book — to  wit:  The 
Unfinished  Minar,  Adam  Khan's  Tomb,  The  Iron 
Pillar,  The  Fort  of  Lalkot,  The  Fort  of  Rajah  Pith- 
ora,  Haji  Baba  Rose  Beh's  Tomb,  Tomb  of  Moulvie 
Joomalie  Koomalie,  Musjid  of  Feezool-oola  or  Jellal 
Khan,  Metcalf  House,  which  was  o:<:ce  the  tomb  of 
Mahomed  Koolee  Khan,  The  diving-wells  in  Meh- 
rowlie,  Ruins  below  Metcalf  House,  Royal  Tombs 
in  Mehrowlie,  etc. 

There  now — I  must  have  my  breakfast  after  that  ! 
Thanks  for  a  choice  meal  and  a  sharp-set  palate. 

But  leaving  Dehli,  I  must  hasten  on  to  Agra. 
This  city  was  the  chief  seat  of  the  illustrious  Akbar, 
and  from  him  called  Akbarabad.  The  fort  at  this 
place  is  the  best  we  have  seen,  the  walls  being  very 
massive,  very  high,  and  crowned  with  crinolated 
battlements.  Akbar  built  a  very  large  palace  here, 
which  is  still  standing  and  in  a  fair  state  of  preserva- 
tion. I  cannot  undertake  to  describe  it.  It  has  one 
front  on  the  Jumna,  and  covers  a  large  area.  The 
inevitable  marble  filigree  work  is  seen  here — broken 
at  one  place  by  a  cannon-ball.  In  the  basement  is  a 
very  labyrinth  of  columns  and  wall  where,  it  is  said, 
the  women  of  the  imperial  household  were  accus- 
tomed to  play  at  hide-and-seek.  In  a  small  court 
above  there  is  a  pavement  of  marble,  in  squares,  on 
which  the  tradition  has  it,  the  Mogul  used  to  play 
chess,  or  some  such  game,  right  royally,  having  for 
his  "  chess-men "  the  beautiful  girls  of  his  harem, 
who    moved    from    square    to    square  as  they  were 


2$6  TWO  DAYS  IX  DEHLI. 

directed.  A  tank,  stocked  with  fish,  was  in  a  larger 
court,  and  the  gallery  from  which  Akbar  used  to 
drop  his  hook  was  pointed  out  to  us.  The  throne- 
room  was  an  open  court,  and  the  throne,  still  pre- 
served, is  a  slab  of  black  marble.  In  this  slab  there 
are  two  points  of  a  decided  red  color  from  which  a 
slight  red  tint  shades  off  for  several  inches.  Our 
guide  told  us  of  this  throne  before  we  saw  it,  and 
assured  us  that  it  had  shed  blood  twice ;  once  when 
the  Mahratta  invader,  the  Rajah  of  Bhurtpore,  sat  on 
it,  and  again  when  Lord  Ellenboro.  a  Governor-Gen- 
eral of  India,  did  the  same.  When  we  expressed 
our  disbelief  of  the  fact  he  took  us  to  the  place  and 
proved  it  triumphantly  by  showing  us  the  very  blood- 
stain, indelible  in  the  rock;  and  proof  incontroverti- 
ble that  it  did  bleed,  and  that  when  those  very  two 
men  sat  on  it.  But  use  has  rendered  it  insensible  to 
humiliation,  for  when  I  seated  myself  on  it  it  did  not 
even  so  much  as  give  a  grunt. 

The  description  of  the  bath-room  of  the  harem  I 
give  in  the  language  of  Bayard  Taylor :  "  The  most 
curious  part  of  the  palace  is  the  Slush  Mahal,  or 
Palace  of  Glass,  which  is  an  oriental  bath,  the  cham- 
bers and  passages  whereof  are  adorned  with  thou- 
sands of  small  mirrors,  disposed  in  the  most  intricate 
designs.  The  water  fell,  in  a  broad  sheet,  into  a 
marble  pool  over  brilliant  lamps,  and  the  fountains 
are  so  constructed  as  to  be  lighted  from  within. 
Mimic  cascades  tumbled  from  the  walls  over  slabs  of 
veined  marble  into  basins  so  curiously  carved  that 
the  motion  of  the  water  produced  the  appearance  of 
fish.  This  bath  must  once  have  realized  all  the 
fabled  splendors  of  Arabian  history.     The  chambers 


TWO  DAYS  IN'  DEHLI.  2^J 

of  the  Sultans  and  the  open  court  connecting  them 
are  filled  with  fountains." 

Akbar's  mausoleum  is  eight  miles  from  the  city. 
It  was  built  by  his  son,  and  proudly  named  Se- 
cundra — Alexandria — for  was  not  Akbar  another 
Alexander  ?  It  is  a  massive  structure,  imposing  in 
the  distant  view,  but  near  at  hand  the  front  eleva- 
tion, a  sort  of  portico  of  only  one  story,  projects  so 
as  to  conceal  the  really  lofty  summit,  and  give  the 
pile  a  squat  appearance.  The  sarcophagi  are  usually 
under  the  dome  of  these  buildings,  but  this  one  is 
singular  from  almost  all  others  in  having  no  dome, 
the  sarcophagus  resting  on  a  marble  pavement  on 
the  summit,  having  the  heavens  for  its  dome.  It  is 
covered  by  cloth  heavily  ornamented  with  gold 
thread.     The  pavement  I  should  take  to  be  twenty- 

i  feet  square.  It  is  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  the 
open  screen-work  of  marble  of  which  I  have  fre- 
quently spoken.  There  are  eleven  panels  of  this 
work  on  each  side,  forty-four  in  all,  and  the  pattern 
of  each  panel  is  diverse  from  that  of  any  other. 

Here  at  Secundra  the  English  Church  Mission  has 
a  printing-press  and  Orphanage.  The  Orphanage  is 
supplied  with  inmates  mainly  by  foundlings  exposed 
to  perish,  from  which  fate  they  are  saved  by  the 
police  and  brought  to  this  Christian  refuge.  There 
is  indubitable  proof  that  infanticide  is  still  practiced 
in  many  parts  of  the  country,  notwithstanding  all  the 
efforts  of  the  English  authorities  to  suppress  it.  The 
victims  are  always  girls.  They  are  sometimes  killed 
outright,  and  sometimes  left  in  the  open  fields  to  die. 
This  is  the  religion  that  some  "larsfe-minded'1 
Englishmen  are  fain  to  patronize  as  being  about  as 


25S  TWO  DAYS  IX  DEHLI. 

good  as  Christianity.  Hundreds  of  times  in  this  tour 
have  I  been  overwhelmed  with  emotions  of  gratitude 
that  I  and  my  children  were  born  Christians.  May  a 
merciful  God  pardon  any  want  of  ardor  I  may  have 
been  guilty  of  in  pressing  the  conquests  of  the  cross. 

Returning  to  Agra  we  may  visit  two  celebrated 
mosques.  But  they  are  much  like  the  one  at  Dehli, 
already  described. 

Several  hundred  Mussulmans  were  assembled,  and 
scattered  about  over  the  vast  marble-paved  terrace 
of  one,  when  we  visited  it,  near  the  hour  of  prayer. 
When  the  moment  arrived,  the  mullah,  or  priest, 
came  out  and  ordered  them  into  line,  facing  the 
mosque,  and  facing  toward  Mecca,  as  well.  We 
were  obliged  to  stand  outside  of  the  terrace,  so  that 
our  view  was  a  distant  one,  and  we  could  not  see 
well  how  matters  proceeded.  But  we  heard  a  sort  of 
chant,  which,  I  suppose,  was  the  recitation  of  a  prayer. 
The  whole  affair  lasted  only  a  minute  or  two.  The 
worshipers  were  scarely  well  placed  in  line  till  they 
dispersed.  Many  of  them  crowded  about  us,  when 
we  took  the  opportunity  to  ask  them  several  ques- 
tions about  their  worship,  which  one  or  two,  who 
spoke  English  imperfectly,  answered  cheerfully — I 
thought,  indeed,  rather  eagerly.  The  dome  of  one 
of  these  mosques,  flanked  with  graceful  kiosks,  is  so 
lofty  as  to  command  a  very  extended  landscape. 
Like  so  many  of  the  larger  domes,  it  is  of  white  mar- 
ble. Taylor  imagined  that  when  seen  from  a  dis- 
tance, it  looked  like  a  silver  bubble,  ready  to  be 
brushed  away  at  any  moment — or  something  of  that 
sort — which  I  suppose  is  very  poetical,  and  which 
has  the  additional  merit  of  being  #// poetry. 


TWO  DAYS  IX  DEHLI.  259 

But  the  gem  of  Mogul  architecture  is  the  Taj. 
Mumtaz  Muhul,  or  Moomtaz  Bibi,  was  the  favorite 
wife  of  Shah  Jehan,  the  builder  of  the  most  famous 
buildings  of  Dehli,  already  mentioned.  Mumtaz 
Bibi  was  contracted,  in  domestic  colloquy,  to  Taz 
Bibi,  or  Taj  Bibi — a  very  sweet  pet  name.  She  died 
early,  and  the  bereaved  monarch  erected  this  most 
splendid  of  Indian  mausoleums  to  her  memory.  It 
stands  on  the  banks  of  the  Jumna,  a  mile  below  the 
city  of  Agra.  Why  it  was  not  placed  at  Dehli  I 
know  not. 

In  visiting  it  you  enter  first  a  court,  and  there, 
leaving  your  gharry,  enter  the  grounds  from  the 
south  by  a  massive  and  very  high  gate  of  red  sand- 
stone. It  must  be  fifty  feet  high,  and  is  ornamented 
with  elaborate  carvings.  Having  passed  this  portal 
you  have  the  Taj  in  full  view  through  an  avenue  of 
trees.  Along  this  avenue  you  pass  through  the 
park,  on  the  side  of  which  it  stands.  The  grounds 
are  beautifully  laid  off  and  filled  with  trees  and 
shrubbery,  being  kept  up  at  a  great  expense  by  the 
Government.  The  avenue  is  a  paved  way  from  the 
gate  to  the  terrace  on  which  the  building  stands — 
that  is,  it  is  paved  on  the  sides,  the  center  being 
sunk  some  three  feet  to  contain  water,  playing  in  it 
originally  from  fountains.  At  the  end  of  the  avenue 
you  mount  a  terrace  by  a  few  stone  steps,  and  a  few 
steps  farther  on,  another  terrace,  which  rises  per- 
haps twenty  feet  above  the  first.  This  terrace  is  one 
hundred  yards  square,  and  is  paved  with  white  mar- 
ble, polished  so  that  the  glare  of  the  hot  sun  upon  it 
is  blinding.  From  the  center  of  this  elevated  pave- 
ment rises  the  wonderful  building.     The  main  body 


260  TWO  DAYS  IN  DEHLI. 

is  an  irregular  octagon,  having  four  long  and  four 
short  sides,  which  are  broken  up  by  entrances  and 
recesses.  It  is  surmounted  in  the  center  by  a  very 
lofty  dome  of  the  most  graceful  pattern  I  ever  saw. 
Each  of  the  short  sides  is  surmounted  by  a  smaller 
dome.  Between  the  central  and  exterior  domes  is  a 
circle  of  most  elegant  kiosks. 

On  entering  the  building  you  find  one  principal 
apartment  under  the  central  dome  having1  an  unob- 
structed  elevation  from  the  pavement  to  the  top  of 
the  dome  of,  say  200  feet.  This  apartment  is  a  per- 
fect circle.  At  each  corner,  outside  of  this,  there  are 
smaller  rooms. 

Now  you  are  to  remember  that  inside  and  outside 
this  great  structure,  186  feet  in  diameter  and  243  feet 
high,  is  of  the  finest  and  whitest  marble,  polished  to 
the  utmost.  On  the  inner  wall  of  the  great  circular 
room  under  the  dome,  for  about  three  feet  above  the 
pavement,  there  are  flowers  and  foliage  elegantly 
carved  in  relief.  Above  that  the  wall  is  covered 
partly  by  flowers  inlaid  with  precious  stones  of 
divers  colors.  What  an  amount  of  delicate  work ! 
It  is  positively  inconceivable.  Other  parts  of  the 
wall,  inside  and  out,  are  occupied  with  texts  of  the 
Koran,  inlaid  in  the  white  marble  with  black 
marble,  elegantly  cut  in  the  Persian  character,  and 
fitting  so  nicely  that  the  closest  inspection  scarcely 
shows  the  joint.  It  is  affirmed  that  the  entire  Koran 
is  here  transcribed,  but  this  is  doubted. 

The  real  sarcophagus  is  in  a  basement  room  in  the 
center,  but  the  ornamental  one  on  the  paved  floor 
under  the  dome.  It  is  richly  inlaid  with  mosaic 
work  in  flowers  of  precious  stones,  and  is  surrounded 


TWO  DAYS  IN  DEHLI.  26 1 

by  marble  screen-work  of  the  finest  kind.  The 
ninety-nine  names  of  God  are  inlaid  in  black  marble. 
The  Emperor  lies  by  her  side,  but  his  sarcophagus 
seems  an  intrusion,  as  the  place  was  evidently  pre- 
pared for  only  one.  He  was  to  have  had  a  mauso- 
leum on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  just  like  this, 
the  decaying  foundations  of  which  still  remain.  It 
was  to  be  joined  to  this  by  a  marble  bridge.  But 
intestine  feuds  disturbed  the  close  of  his  life  and 
shortened  his  reign,  so  that  his  design  was  frustra- 
ted, and  he  sleeps  here  by  the  side  of  his  beloved 
Taz. 

There  be  those  who  say  that  the  architecture  of 
this  building  is  faulty.  May  be  so,  but  I  cannot  see 
it.  It  is  one  of  a  very  few  buildings  I  have  seen 
that  gives  me  a  feeling  of  complete  satisfaction.  I 
do  not  understand  the  principles  of  architectural  art 
sufficiently  to  account  for  my  taste,  but,  to  my  taste, 
the  Taj  is  wondrously  beautiful. 

I  never  became  enthusiastic  about  any  of  these 
old  buildings  till  I  saw  this.  I  think  the  Capitol  at 
Washington  more  beautiful  than  any  of  the  others, 
but  to  the  Taj  I  surrendered.  To  be  sure,  I  was 
pleased  in  a  quiet  way  at  Dehli,  and  especially  when 
I  saw  the  Kootub  from  the  top  of  the  minaret,  eleven 
miles  away,  clear  cut  against  the  sky,  the  tapering 
shaft  being  the  only  object  to  break  the  dead  circle 
of  the  horizon ;  and  yet  more  when  I  came  near  it 
and  saw  it  springing  from  its  massive  plinth  in  just 
proportion  of  diameter  and  height,  challenging  the 
very  clouds  with  its  summit.  But  the  beautiful 
never  took  absolute  possession  of  me  till  I  came  here. 

The  echo  in  the  dome  of  the  Taj  has  been  pro- 


262  TWO  DAYS  IN  DEHLI. 

nounced  by  traveled  men  the  best  in  the  world.  We 
tried  it.  A  sharp,  short  shout  rebounds  from  fifty 
points  at  once,  and  touches  and  bounds  off  again, 
and  turns  somersaults,  splits  itself  into  fragments  and 
shreds,  and  careers  around,  reverberating  and 
answering  itself  as  if  it  were  intoxicated  with  the 
beauty  of  the  place,  dying  out  at  last  so  reluctantly 
and  slowly  that  it  is  impossible  to  say  when  you 
cease  to  hear  it.  H.  made  it  resound  with  the  name 
of  our  Lord,  and  we  sung  the  Doxology  together 
with  a  loud  voice  and  full  hearts. 

Men  20,000,  years  22 — -these  factors  give  the  sum 
of  labor  crystallized  here. 

At  Allahabad,  at  sunrise,  Sunday  morning,  we 
were  met  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Osborne,  pastor  of  the  M. 
E.  Church,  and  taken  to  his  house.  How  did  he  know 
we  were  coming?  Perhaps  Dr.  Waugh  wrote  him; 
I  know  not.  What  a  sweet  atmosphere  of  Christian 
hospitality  we  breathed  under  his  roof!  and  what  a 
hallowed  service  of  the  holy  supper  we  had  with  his 
Church  !  He  is  an  Indo-European  by  birth,  an 
intelligent  gentleman  by  instinct  and  culture,  and, 
by  grace,  a  devoted  and  efficient  Christian  pastor. 
One  of  the  most  interesting  sights  we  have  had  was 
his  daughter,  twelve  years  old,  in  charge  of  a  native 
Sunday-school,  and  managing  it  to  admiration.  I 
involuntarily  invoked  God's  blessing  on  the  child  and 
her  work. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

ODDS    AND    ENDS. 

V^HE  EAST  INDIAN  lives  three  thousand  years 
ago.  Imperfect  hints  of  antiquity  are  found  in  the 
ruins  of  his  old  cities,  and  in  a  few  remaining 
obelisks,  but  he,  the  present  living  Hindoo,  is  antiq- 
uity itself.  His  domicile,  his  dress,  his  social  life,  his 
manners,  his  religion,  his  implements,  mechanical  and 
agricultural,  his  cart  and  oxen,  his  donkey,  his  elephant 
and  camel,  and  the  uses  of  them,  belong  to  the  period 
of  the  very  dawn  of  history — doubtless  even  to  a  time 
of  which  history  makes  no  note.  When  an  American 
reads  of  Buddha  washing  his  own  garment  in  the  tank 
or  river,  it  sounds  very  odd  to  him.  He  is  apt  to  sup- 
pose that  the  celebrated  teacher  was  very  abject,  or 
a  great  ascetic.  But  here  where  he  lived  the  incident 
is  not  noted.  Nothing  is  more  common  or  common- 
place. Men  of  all  classes  walk  down  into  the  water 
and  wash  their  own  loose  and  scant  clothing  while 
they  take  their  bath.  One  soon  becomes  so  accus- 
tomed to  see  men,  almost  nude,  engaged  in  this 
way  that  he  thinks  nothing  of  it. 

One  of  the  first  things  I  observed  in  Calcutta  was 
the  rude  ox-carts.  With  the  exception  of  the  tire, 
every  part  might  have  been  made  with  an  ax  and 
saw.  The  hub  is  of  great  size,  and  the  rough-hewn 
spokes,  very  large,  are  set  in  at  great  intervals,  the 


264  ODDS  AND  ENDS. 

felloe,  also,  being  very  clumsy.  The  body  or  bed  is 
of  bamboo  poles,  rudely  fastened  together,  tapering 
toward  the  forward  end,  which  extends  up  between 
the  oxen  well  on  toward  the  yoke.  Indeed,  the 
outer  poles  of  the  frame  often  come  together  at  the 
end,  and  serve  as  the  tongue  to  which  the  yoke  is 
fastened.  You  will  often,  therefore,  see  one  ox  on 
each  side  of  the  load,  or  at  least,  of  the  front  part  of 
it,  instead  of  being  entirely  in  advance  of  it,  as  with 
us.  I  have  never  seen  the  horse  or  mule  used  for 
draft  here,  that  is,  for  heavy  draft.  About  the  cities 
carriages  are  drawn  by  horses,  but  my  conviction  is 
that  this  use  of  them  was  introduced.'by  Europeans, 
though  many  wealthy  natives  have  taken  it  up.  Yet, 
even  to  this  day,  many  of  the  latter  use  oxen  in  their 
carriages.  There  is  a  tradition  of  the  Emperor 
Hoomayoon  taking  out  his  favorite  Begum  in  a  car- 
riage drawn  by  beautiful  white  oxen,  himself  acting 
as  teamster.  Indeed,  these  India  oxen  make  much 
better  carriage-horses  than  our  American  breeds 
would.  They  are  more  sprightly,  and,  I  think,  bet- 
ter disposed,  and  more  easily  guided.  They  look 
brighter,  and,  when  kept  for  the  carriage,  they  are 
fed  high  and  curried  until  they  are  sleek,  and  show 
their  keeping  like  a  horse. 

There  is  a  hole  made  in  the  cartilage  between  the 
nostrils  of  the  ox,  through  which  a  rope  is  drawn  and 
then  brought  over  the  head  like  the  headstall  of  a 
bridle.  To  this  a  rein  is  attached,  by  means  of  which 
he  is  guided  like  a  horse.  This  is  certainly  an  excel- 
lent contrivance,  putting  the  brute  very  fully  in  the 
power  of  his  driver.  I  have  seen  very  fine  pleasure 
carriages  of  wealthy  natives  drawn  by  oxen. 


ODDS  AND  ENDS.  265 

The  water-buffalo  is  sometimes  also  used  for  heavy 
draft.  He  is  yoked  as  the  ox  is.  This  ugly  beast 
we  have  found  everywhere  since  we  landed  at  Shang- 
hai. The  only  other  animal  I  have  seen  used  for 
this  purpose  is  the  camel.  I  was  quite  unprepared 
for  this,  having  supposed  that  his  only  use  was  as  a 
beast  of  burden.  The  camel-wagons  I  saw  were  very 
rough-looking  things,  most  of  them  on  low  wheels, 
the  bed  being  two  stories  high,  with  cargo  on  the 
first  floor,  and  passengers  up  stairs.  There  was  a 
certain  ugly  congruity  between  the  vehicle  and  the 
team — they  seemed  all  of  a  piece. 

Of  all  dumb  brutes  I  have  ever  seen  the  camel  is 
the  most  unshapely.  With  his  long  hind-legs,  barely 
tacked  on  to  his  body;  the  hump  on  his  back  like  a 
hideous  deformity  ;  his  little,  long,  round  neck,  tak- 
ing a  start  downward  and  then  turning  up  as  if  drawn 
by  a  convulsion ;  the  two  straight  fore-legs  set  under 
the  chest  like  stilts ;  he  stands  before  you  in  an 
apologetic  attitude,  as  if  he  were  asking  pardon  of 
the  universe  for  having  been  obtruded  upon  it.  Add 
to  this  the  miserable  head  set  on  the  upturned  end  of 
the  neck,  with  the  facial  line,  from  the  ear  to  the 
unhappy-looking  nostrils,  level  with  the  horizon,  look- 
ing like  a  statue  of  misery — a  mute,  perpetual  appeal 
for  pity,  and  you  have  the  Ideal  of  the  Ugly  stand- 
ing before  you  eight  feet  high. 

To  return  to  wheeled  vehicles.  There  is  no  want 
of  variety.  In  some  parts  of  the  country  the  cart  has 
only  a  truck-wheel,  sawed  off  from  the  end  of  a  log, 
a  hole  being  made  through  the  centre  fo?  the  axle, 
Such  were  sometimes  used  In    "  in  the  t nrly 


266  ODDS  AND  ENDS. 

life  when  a  boy  by  being  run  over  by  one.  It 
flattened  me  out  well.  Then,  all  over  the  country, 
we  saw  a  jaunty-looking  little  vehicle  on  two  wheels, 
with  a  body  of  bamboo,  the  outer  poles  of  the  lower 
part  of  the  body  extending  forward  for  shafts.  The 
seat  is  built  up  over  the  axle.  It  is  usually  drawn  by 
a  pony,  but  a  similar  one  is  often  drawn  by  a  pair  of 
very  small  oxen.  I  have  seen  four  or  five  men 
crowded  on  one,  though  it  seems  to  be  intended  for 
only  two.  I  should  think  at  the  price  of  labor  in  this 
country  one  of  the  very  common  ones  might  be  made 
for  five  dollars,  though  they  are  sometimes  made 
quite  elegant. 

There  is  a  great  disposition  to  set  off  a  team  with 
cheap  ornaments,  or,  in  the  case  of  the  wealthy,  with 
very  costly  ones.  There  is  often  a  bunch  of  minute 
bells  suspended  from  the  tip  of  the  horns.  I  have 
seen  the  horns  painted,  and,  by  the  way,  the  horns  of 
cattle  here  are  of  a  type  altogether  different  from 
those  of  Europe  and  America.  They  are  all  of  one 
type,  but  the  range  of  varieties  is  free,  and  the  num- 
ber countless.  I  wish  I  had  photographs  of  all  I 
have  seen. 

I  once  supposed  that  Texas  led  the  world  in  the 
art  of  branding  cattle,  but  I  have  reluctantly  to  give 
it  up.  My  Texas  pride  in  this  particular  all  perished 
out  of  me  when  I  reached  India.  I  have  seen  cattle 
here  literally  scarred — striped  and  checked — from 
end  to  end.  I  believe  it  was  worse  at  Singapore, 
perhaps,  than  anywhere  else — though  not  much. 

It  is  gratifying  to  find  much  of  the  hardest  work 
done  by  fHirt  in  China  laic!  Upon  dumb  brutes  here. 
In    the   part   of  China  visited   by    us    there    are    no 


ODDS  AND  ENDS.  5>6f 

wheeled  vehicles  for  heavy  draft.  Whatever  the 
farmer  takes  to  market  goes  on  his  shoulders,  either 
to  the  market  or  to  the  canal,  when  it  is  sent  to  a 
remote  market.  This  is  often  a  distance  of  several 
miles.  In  India  all  heavy  transportation  is  effected 
by  carts  or  on  pack-animals.  In  the  cities  of 
China,  on  the  narrow  streets,  you  are  perpetually 
jostled  by  men  from  whose  brows  the  perspiration  is 
rolling,  the  temples  traversed  by  swollen  veins,  while 
they  utter  a  peculiar  and  distressing  grunt  at  every 
step.  So  in  the  country,  it  is  no  unusual  thing  to 
see  men  trotting  along  the  narrow  paths  between  the 
fields  loaded  with  cruel  burdens. 

The  pack-animals  used  in  India  are  oxen,  buffalo, 
camels,  donkeys,  and  sometimes,  but  not  often, 
mules.  The  ox  and  buffalo  bear  enormous  burdens. 
Nearly  all  the  donkeys  we  saw  used  in  this  way  are 
of  a  very  small  species — so  small  that  they  may  be 
called  dwarfs.  I  gave  it  as  my  opinion  that  some  of 
them  were  not  over  two  and  a  half  feet  from  hoof  to 
withers.  That  I  might  be  able  to  speak  with  author- 
ity, I  asked  H.  to  measure  one  with  the  tape-line  he 
has  always  in  his  vest-pocket.  From  the  ground  up 
he  was  exactly  thirty  inches.  But  what  enormous 
loads  they  do  carry,  sometimes  I  think  certainly 
much  more  than  their  own  weight  ! 

It  is  amusing  to  see  an  ox  freighted  with  water,  an 
enormous  leather-sack,  filled  at  the  well,  being  sus- 
pended on  either  side.  They  are  filled  after  they  are 
placed  here.  Sometimes  the  street  is  sprinkled  in 
this  way  in  Bombay.  The  sack  is  arranged  so  that 
the  neck  of  it  points  forward  from  the  lower  part.  A 
man  walks  along  on  each  side  of  the  ox,  holding  the 


26S  ODDS  AND  ENDS. 

neck  of  the  sack  and  slackening  his  grasp  So  as  to  let 
out  a  sufficient  jet,  while  he  flirts  it  about  in  a  most 
vigorous  way.  An  awkward  contrivance,  certainly, 
but  yet  it  does  its  work  very  well. 

The  only  human  pack-animals  I  have  seen  are 
women,  and  these  seem  to  be  employed  chiefly  for 
one  particular  sort  of  burden — the  peculiar  fuel  of 
this  country — which  they  carry  in  large  baskets  on 
their  heads.  They  and  the  little  donkeys  appear  to 
have  a  monopoly  in  the  transportation  of  this  article, 
and  some  of  them  seem  almost  to  vie  with  the  don- 
keys as  to  the  size  of  the  load. 

I  stated  in  a  former  chapter  that  the  yield  of 
cereals  seemed  to  me  to  be  light.  I  afterward  saw 
some  heavier  crops,  and  there  is  this  to  be  more 
distinctly  stated,  that  there  are  two  crops  a  year. 
That  which  I  have  seen  is  the  spring  crop,  which,  I 
am  told,  is  by  far  the  lighter  of  the  two.  I  have  no 
doubt,  upon  large  inquiry,  that  the  annual  average 
per  acre  is  much  above  that  of  America,  though  the 
average  of  the  spring  crop  would  be  below  it. 

The  gentleness  of  wild  birds  here  will  strike  the 
new-comer.  One  of  the  first  things  I  noticed  on 
going  ashore  at  Calcutta  was  crows  in  great  numbers 
hopping  about  the  streets.  You  see  it  everywhere. 
At  Kandy,  in  Ceylon,  two  beautiful  little  birds  were 
flying  about  the  church,  and  hopping  about  on  the 
exposed  timbers  overhead,  chirruping  as  contentedly 
as  if  they  were  in  the  woods.  I  have  repeatedly  had 
them  singing  for  me  in  dining-rooms  at  the  hotels — 
not  confined  in  a  cage  as  in  America,  but  coming  and 
going  at  their  own  sweet  will.  It  was  delightful !  At 
Dehli  a  man  came  to  our  hotel  and  proposed  to  bring 


ODDS  AND  ENDS.  269 

two  thousand  crows  together  in  the  street  in  front  of 
the  hotel  in  two  minutes  for  a  small  fee.  This  he  said 
he  would  do  by  mimicking  the  call  of  that  bird.  We 
were  preoccupied  at  the  moment,  but  I  have  since 
regretted  that  we  did  not  do  it,  for  we  were  assured 
by  our  guide  that  he  could  do  all  he  professed. 

Many  of  the  rich  Rajahs  have  large  numbers  of 
elephants,  but  they  are  an  expensive  property.  Two 
servants  are  employed  to  take  care  of  each  one. 
They  are  frequently  washed,  which  operation  we  wit- 
nessed at  Lucknow.  They  were  taken  into  the  river 
Jumna  and  made  to  lie  down  where  the  water  was 
about  three  feet  deep.  The  elephant  relishes  this 
much.  He  stretches  out  on  his  side,  looking  the 
picture  of  satisfaction,  lazily  thrusting  the  end  of  his 
trunk  up  out  of  the  water  now  and  then  to  take 
breath.  Meanwhile  the  coolies  throw  water  over  him 
copiously  and  scrub  his  ugly  cuticle  lustily  with  coarse 
pumice-stone.  After  a  time  his  lordship  rises  grandly, 
the  mahoot,  with  wonderful  skill,  fastening  himself 
upon  him  and  coming  up  on  his  back.  Then  he  turns 
round  and  lies  down  on  the  other  side,  exposing  the 
unscrubbed  surface  to  the  pumice-stone. 

The  betel-nut  is  used  all  over  India,  but  is  never 
chewed  by  itself.  A  green  leaf  is  wrapped  around  it, 
a:d  tobacco  is  often  added,  sometimes  with  lime. 
Other  nuts  and  berries,  and  perhaps  gums,  are  some- 
times used  with  or  without  the  tobacco,  which,  to  a 
cultivated  taste,  improves  it,  but  to  others  spoils  it. 
Many  Europeans  relish  it.  I  never  tasted  it,  but  my 
traveling  companion  tried  a  quid  which  Brother  Mess- 
more,  at  Lucknow,  prepared  for  him,  without  tobacco, 
and  he  pronounced  it  very  pleasant.     The  constant 


27O  ODDS  AND  ENDS. 

use  of  it  discolors  the  teeth,  and  the  juice  makes  the 
lips  very  red.  People  who  use  it  eject  saliva  very 
copiously,  and  the  women  use  it  as  freely  as  the  men. 
It  is  an  important  article  of  local  commerce. 

The  Oriental  well  is  an  object  of  great  interest. 
The  wells  are  often  very  large  and  deep.  One  not 
unfrequently  serves  the  whole  community.  Public 
parks  and  gardens  are  sometimes  irrigated  from  them. 
The  water  is  often  drawn  by  hand  with  a  bucket  and 
rope ;  but  there  is  frequently  a  simple  contrivance  for 
drawing  it  from  the  larger  wells  by  ox-power.  It  is 
much  the  same  as  I  have  seen  at  home  for  elevating 
brick  and  mortar  in  the  erection  of  very  high  build- 
ings, where  a  horse  is  used,  moving  off  in  a  straight 
line  till  the  hod  reaches  its  proper  height,  then  return- 
ing and  starting  from  the  same  point  for  another  lift. 
So  here  the  oxen  move  straight  off  from  the  well, 
drawing  upon  a  rope  which  turns  a  wheel  to  which 
another  rope  from  which  the  bucket  is  suspended  is 
attached.  The  bucket  in  this  case  is  a  great  leathern 
sack  containing  probably  from  twelve  to  twenty  gal- 
lons. 

In  other  cases  I  have  seen  a  drum-shaped  wheel 
elevated  on  a  frame  above  the  well,  having  a  broad 
leather  belt  passing  around  it  and  descending  into 
the  well,  where,  under  the  surface  of  the  water,  it 
passed  around  another  wheel.  To  this  belt  small 
leather  buckets  are  attached  at  short  intervals. 
Coolies,  seated  on  the  frame  above  the  well,  turn  the 
wheel  by  treading  upon  the  ribs  of  it  with  their  feet, 
and  pulling  at  them  with  their  hands.  As  it  revolves, 
the  buckets,  passing  below  the  water,  come  up  full, 


ODDS  AND  ENDS.  2JI 

and,  as  they  turn  over  the  wheel  above,  empty  them- 
selves into  a  receptacle  prepared  for  the  purpose. 

Castor-oil  is  expressed  by  the  rudest  possible  pro- 
cess. I  made  inquiries  of  several  gentlemen  as  to 
the  process  by  which  opium  is  prepared  for  com- 
merce, and  got  statements  much  at  variance  with 
each  other.  We  passed  through  the  country  so 
rapidly,  and  had  so  many  things  to  learn,  that  I  did 
not  take  time  to  get  the  truth  from  authentic 
sources. 

I  am  not  certain  whether  I  have  mentioned  the 
crowds  of  pilgrims  we  saw  going  to  Ajoodiya  to  a 
mela.  The  entire  rolling  stock  was  put  at  their  ser- 
vice on  the  railroad  from  Benares  to  Lucknow,  both 
of  freight  and  passenger-cars,  for  two  weeks,  and 
could  not  begin  to  accommodate  them.  This  mela 
was  a  festival  in  honor  of  the  god  Rama.  On  a  cer- 
tain day,  at  a  certain  hour,  a  plunge  into  the  river  at 
a  certain  point,  made  sacred  by  some  act  of  the  god, 
is  efficacious  for  I  know  not  what  divine  ends.  On 
our  return  from  Dehli  we  saw  a  paragraph  in  the 
newspapers  stating  that  several  hundreds  of  persons 
had  been  crushed  to  death  at  the  great  mela.  It 
occurred  on  this  wise :  As  the  proper  hour 
approached,  the  whole  mass  of  people,  amounting  to 
hundreds  of  thousands,  made  a  rush  for  the  sacred 
bathing-place,  which  is  reached  by  rather  narrow 
approaches.  The  scene  was  one  of  wild  excitement. 
Thousands  of  men,  who  had  all  their  lives  looked 
forward  to  this  auspicious  day,  when,  just  at  the 
moment  when  the  god  will  be  present,  they  would 
plunge  into  the"  saving  waters,  find  themselves 
obstructed  by  the  crowd,  and  become  frantic.     They 


2/2  ODDS  AND  ENDS. 

came  a  hundred  miles  on  foot  to  the  railroad,  and 
then  fought  their  way  into  the  cars  (as  I  saw  some  of 
them  do,  the  crowd  being  so  great  that  not  a  fourth 
part  of  them  could  get  in),  then  rode  all  night  in  a 
car  jammed  and  wedged  with  human  beings,  having 
abandoned  their  business  and  spent  all  their  little 
money  just  for  this,  that  they  might  get  the  blessing 
of  the  great  god  Rama  by  observing  the  prescribed 
formula  at  the  designated  moment.  So,  in  the  nar- 
row approaches  to  the  bathing-place,  they  trampled 
each  other  to  death  by  the  hundred. 

But  it  is  not  religious  sentiment  alone  that  causes 
the  excitement.  I  visited  a*  temple  in  Benares  at  a 
time  of  very  excited  worship,  and  was  satisfied  that 
the  furore  was  as  much  a  sort  of  social  contagion  in 
the  crowd  as  any  thing  else — perhaps  more.  The 
social  susceptibility  of  the  Hindoos  is  very  great,  and 
a  few  enthusiastic  men  in  a  crowd  will  soon  spread 
their  own  fervor,  which  will  be  augmented  by  the 
contact  of  masses  of  susceptible  men  with  each 
other.  From  what  I  saw  I  could  understand  how, 
in  a  crowd  of  hundreds  of  thousands,  screaming  and 
shouting,  and  leaping,  with  a  few  half-crazy  men 
raving  among  them  with  streaming  hair  and  glaring 
eyes,  the  car  of  the  god  being  drawn  along  in  the 
midst  of  them  by  men,  some  nervous  people,  in  the 
abandon  of  the  hour,  might  actually  throw  them- 
selves under  the  advancing  wheels,  and  be  crushed 
to  death,  the  act  being  prompted  more  by  a  conta- 
gion of  frenzy  than  by  any  religious  faith. 

We  happened   at  Dehli  at  the  time  of  a  religious 
In  T'''  ing  ft  q       >peareq  with 

•ir  p$l  Si  :in-:i 


ODDS  AND  ENDS.  2JI 

irregular  patches,  with  some  sort  of  red  stuff.  Some- 
times they  stained  themselves,  sometimes  threw  the 
damp  pigment  on  each  other  in  a  sportive  way.  I 
inquired  as  to  the  significance  of  this,  but  could  get 
no  answer  except  that  it  was  a  custom  of  the  festival. 
I  suppose  it  has,  or  had  at  first,  some  religious  sig- 
nificance. In  the  afternoon  the  male  population  was 
on  the  streets,  all  in  clean  clothes,  and  with  the 
utmost  display  of  finery.  We  had  heard  that  the 
merchants  of  Dehli  were  a  prosperous  class,  and  this 
display  went  far  to  prove  it.  The  display  of  fine 
horses,  oxen,  carriages,  and  equipages,  quite  amazed 
me.  You  rarely  see  finer  or  better-kept  horses,  or  in 
greater  numbers,  on  a  gala-day  in  an  American  city. 
For  gaudy  caparison  it  far  excelled  any  thing  I  ever 
saw.  Saddles,  bridles,  martingales,  harness,  excelled, 
not  perhaps  in  costliness,  but  certainly  in  gaudiness, 
any  thing  I  had  ever  thought  of  in  that  line.  The 
native  full-dress,  especially  when  seen  in  crowds,  is 
very  picturesque.  There  were  rich  men  on  horse- 
back, rich  men  in  carriages  drawn  by  oxen  or  horses, 
poor  men  in  their  carts,  and  all  classes  on  foot.  The 
rich  were  radiant  with  jewels  and  gold  brocade,  both 
on  their  persons  and  equipage.  The  poorest  had 
their  tawdry,  tinsel  ornaments,  on  their  persons,  on 
their  carts,  and  on  the  horns  of  their  oxen.  The 
principal  streets  were  a  moving  mass  of  chatting,  jab- 
bering, gay  life.  The  market-place  was  a  lively 
scene.  All  other  business-places  were  closed,  but 
here  an  active  traffic  was  going  on,  mostly  in.  cheap 
toys  and  ornaments.  Men  moved  about  with  frames, 
on  which  v-  ■  •  ■}  their  stock  in  trad<\  »u 

-ee  a  -chasia^  a         \t  ^y^irligig  foj 

^  f 


274  ODDS  AND  ENDS. 

his  little  boy,  and  the  little  fellow  twirling  it  and 
cackling  with  delight,  while  another  clamored  for  a 
jumping-jack  as  if  he  felt  that  he  would  attain  his 
ultimate  destiny  in  the  possession  of  that  invaluable 
property.  We  drove  slowly  up  and  down  the  streets 
for,  perhaps,  an  hour,  and  then  out  to  the  "  Queen's 
Garden."  There  the  crowd  was  not  less.  Every- 
where there  was  a  moving  scene  of  social  pleasure. 
We  entered  unconsciously  into  the  genial  glow  of  the 
occasion.  From  one  of  the  most  elegant  carriages  a 
fine-looking  Hindoo  bowed  to  us  profoundly.  We 
recognized  him  as  a  merchant  at  whose  establish- 
ment some  of  our  party  had  made  purchases  in  the 
morning.  We  almost  felt  as  if  we  were  a  part  of  the 
occasion. 

Every  carriage  had,  besides  the  driver,  a  cooly 
trotting  along  near  the  horses'  heads.  Nearly  every 
man  on  horseback  was  similarly  attended,  except 
the  police,  who  were  out  in  force,  many  being  on 
horseback. 

But  look  into  every  carriage,  every  cart,  every  gay 
group  on  foot.  Do  you  see  a  woman?  Not  one.  If 
you  see  any  cooly  women  straggling  about  they  are 
on  some  hard  duty.  The  better  class  are  all  in  the 
zenana.  Woman  here  has  no  part  in  the  social 
pleasures  of  her  lord  and  master.  In  fact,  she  has  no 
pleasures  except  such  as  she  may  be  able  to  impro- 
vise in  her  monotonous  life  within  the  walls  where 
the  days  linger  into  years,  and  the  lagging  years 
bring  death  at  last.  Are  we  still  to  be  told  that 
India  has  no  need  of  the  Christian  civilization  ? 

After  surisefc  we  returned  to  our  hotel,  leaving  the 
crowd  undiminished  on  the  street.-      It   ought   to  be. 


Odds  and  ends.  275 

added  that  there  was  no  disorder,  nothing  boisterous 
on  the  streets.  Whether  this  was  due  to  native  cus- 
toms or  to  the  vigilance  of  the  police,  I  do  not 
know. 

There  is  an  annual  festival — the  Holi,  or  Holee  fes- 
tival— at  which,  we  were  informed,  all  sorts  of 
excesses  are  indulged — drunkenness  and  the  most 
degrading  debauchery.  This  festival  commemorates 
a  romp  trie  god  Vishnu  had  with  a  company  of  milk- 
maids. The  indecencies  of  it,  we  were  told,  are 
greatly  restrained  under  British  rule,  but  it  is  deplor- 
ably vicious. 

While  at  Bombay  we  were  informed  of  the  exist- 
ence of  a  Brahman  sect  at  that  place,  though  not  con- 
fined to  that  place,  called  the  Bhattias,  who  regard 
their  priests,  who  are  denominated  Maharajahs  as 
actual  incarnations  of  Vishnu.  The  men  of  this  sect  feel 
honored  when  a  Maharajah  will  condescend  to  take 
their  wives  or  daughters  for  a  night,  and  the  Mahara- 
jahs often  condescend.  It  is  considered  a  great  dis- 
tinction to  have  a  divinely-descended  child  born  in  the 
family. 

I  have  stated  this  fact,  knowing  how  impossible  it 
will  seem  to  readers  whose  consciences  have  been 
formed  under  Christian  tuition.  I  beg  leave  to  say 
that  I  state  no  fact  of  this  class  on  slight  testimony. 
In  this  instance  there  can  be  no  question,  as  the  facts 
were  brought  out  indubitably,  only  a  few  years  since, 
in  a  judicial  investigation  in  Bombay.  Those  who 
understand  the  amazing  credulity  of  the  Hindoos  in 
matters  connected  with  their  religion,  the  stupid  greed- 
iness with  which  they  swallow  gnats  and  camels  and 
sawmills  with  equal  facility,  will  not  be  so  greatly 


2y6  ODDS  AND  ENDS. 

astonished  by  a  fact  like  this.  The  Brahman's  powers 
of  deglutition,  in  any  matter  that  concerns  his  gods, 
are  infinite — simply  infinite. 

The  title  of  this  chapter,  "  Odds  and  Ends," 
will  justify  any  violent  incongruity  of  associa- 
tion in  the  topics  introduced.  But,  indeed,  there  is 
no  incongruity  in  bringing  Brahmans  and  cattle 
together,  as  the  Brahman  holds  cattle  to  be  sacred, 
and  will  by  no  means  be  guilty  of  the  profanity  of 
eating  beef.  I  was  going  to  speak  of  the  large  herds 
of  cattle  to  be  seen  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 
What  struck  me  was,  that,  in  a  country  where  all 
resources  of  food  require  to  be  husbanded  with  the 
utmost  care  for  the  sustentation  of  human  life,  the 
cattle  should  be  found,  not  only  so  numerous,  but 
so  uniformly  fat.  The  country  seems  picked  clean, 
yet  the  cattle  are  sleek  and  round.  This  close  hus- 
bandry of  articles  of  food  for  man  and  beast  is  quite 
novel  to  an  American.  Ruth  would  starve  to  death 
immediately,  with  the  range  of  a  thousand  fields, 
after  these  East  India  reapers.  I  doubt  if  there  is  a 
straw  left  in  a  hundred  acres.  The  stubble  I  saw 
was  not  an  inch  high — the  fact  is,  most  of  it  was  not 
high  at  all.  Then,  after  the  precious  grain  is  all 
saved,  they  go  over  it  again  with  an  instrument 
something  like  a  trowel  would  be,  if,  instead  of  a 
pointed  blade,  it  had  one  with  a  lateral  edge,  and 
that  sharp.  This  is  thrust  forward  by  a  sudden 
motion  of  the  hand,  taking  off  all  tufts  of  grass,  and 
the  weeds,  at  the  surface  of  the  ground,  or  a  little 
below.  Thus  are  the  stubble-fields  (though  they 
have  no  stubble)  cleared  of  everything  that  is  left 
after  harvest.     All  this  stuff  is  dried  and  saved  for 


ODDS  AND  ENDS.  2JJ 

cattle  and  horses,  where  there  are  horses.  In  the 
same  manner  you  will  see  coolies  on  the  common 
cutting  the  grass  which  has  been  grazed  down  until 
it  stands  in  little  tufts  half  an  inch  high.  Many 
coolies,  in  this  way,  about  the  towns,  make  their 
poor  living  by  getting  grass  to  feed  gentlemen's 
horses,  bringing  it  in  sometimes  a  distance  of  two  or 
three  miles.  I  said  I  had  seen  no  human  pack- 
horses  except  women,  forgetting,  at  the  moment, 
that  I  had  often  seen  coolies  bearing  huge  loads  of 
grass  on  their  heads. 

Let  me  pick  up  an  "end'  of  one  of  the  "odds" 
already  introduced.  Apropos  of  the  gentleness  of 
birds  in  India,  I  am  told  it  is  not  a  very  uncommon 
thing  to  see  a  woman  returning  from  market,  with  the 
provisions  purchased  in  an  open  basket  on  her  head, 
and  a  bird  fluttering  down  and  helping  himself  to 
some  choice  bits.  This  illustrates  a  scene  in  the  drama 
of  Pharaoh's  chief  baker.  Will  my  juvenile  readers 
tell  me  all  about  that  when  they  see  me  ? 

There  are  about  100,000  Parsees  in  the  world. 
Nearly  all  of  them  are  in  India,  and  over  50,000  in 
Bombay,  so  that  more  than  one-half  of  all  the  Par- 
sees  in  the  world  are  in  this  one  city.  They  were  Per- 
sians, originally,  and  hence  the  name  Parsee.  They 
are  the  followers  of  Zoroaster.  The  boys  and  girls 
who  read  this  must  get  an  Encyclopedia  and  find  out 
all  about  their  religion.  When  the  Mohammedans 
invaded  Persia  nearly  all  the  people  submitted  to  the 
new  faith ;  but  there  were  a  good  many  plucky  ones 
who  were  stubborn  enough  to  go  into  exile  rather 
than  give  up  the  religion  of  their  forefathers.  They 
came  to  India,  and  were  indulgently  received  by  cer- 


278  ODDS  AND  ENDS. 

tain  native  princes.  Not  much  is  known  of  their  for- 
tunes, I  believe,  until  the  time  of  the  conquest  of 
India  by  the  British.  They  were  generally  engaged 
in  commercial  pursuits ;  and  when  the  city  of  Bom- 
bay began  to  rise  into  importance  they  flocked  to  it 
in  great  numbers.  Now  many  of  the  leading  mer- 
chants of  that  city  are  Parsees.  They  are  said  to  be 
sharp  traders,  almost  always  successful  in  busi- 
ness, but  not  parsimonious.  They  are  liberal  livers, 
and  open-handed  in  public  benefactions.  Some 
of  the  most  important  public  institutions  of  the  city 
have  been  founded  by  them.  A  beggar  is  unknown 
among  their  number,  so  carefully  and  unostenta- 
tiously do  they  take  care  of  their  own  poor.  They 
are,  in  all  respects,  orderly  and  law-abiding  subjects, 
and  staunch  friends  of  the  English,  by  whom  they 
are  in  turn  much  esteemed. 

At  sunrise  and  at  sunset  multitudes  of  them  may 
be  seen  on  the  Esplanade  and  in  the  public  squares 
in  Bombay — worshiping  the  sun,  people  say — but 
they  themselves  affirm  that  they  worship  the  God 
who  made  the  sun,  through  the  sun,  the  most  glori- 
ous symbol  of  His  Being.  Like  the  Buddhists  and 
Romanists,  they  pray  by  the  quantity,  using  beads 
for  counters.  The  beads  are  conveniently  arranged 
on  strings,  with  large  ones  coming  at  convenient 
intervals  for  the  tally.  Some  of  the  rich  ones,  who 
like  a  morning  nap,  pay  a  priest  to  pray  for  them  two 
hours  in  the  morning.  They  are  usually  of  good 
size,  of  a  very  light  color  for  Orientals,  and,  as  a  rule, 
exceptionally  good-looking.  Their  ladies  are  beauti- 
ful, and  go  abroad  freely,  often  in  very  rich  costume. 

West  of  the  city,  across  an  arm  of  the  Bay  from 


ODDS  AND  ENDS.  2/0, 

the  Esplanade,  is  a  ridge  of  200  or  300  feet  elevation, 
called  Malabar  Hill.  On  this  the  Parsees  have  their 
Towers  of  Silence,  seven  in  number.  They  are  hol- 
low, round,  perpendicular  structures,  about  200  feet 
in  diameter  and  25  feet  in  height.  Two  feet,  maybe, 
from  the  top,  on  the  inside,  is  a  metallic  roof,  inclin- 
ing downward  toward  the  center,  where  there  is  an 
aperture  through  it  about  18  inches  in  diameter,  or 
perhaps  less.  Spaces  large  enough  to  contain  a 
human  body  are  depressed  an  inch  or  two  below 
the  general  surface  of  the  roof,  or  rather  little 
ridges  are  raised  above  the  general  surface  at 
the  proper  intervals.  In  these  shallow  grooves 
on  the  roof  the  bodies  of  the  dead  are  laid. 
The  theory  is  that  they  are  exposed  to  the  sun  under 
the  open  heavens.  The  fact  is,  they  are  consumed 
by  vultures.  When  the  bones  are  stripped,  they  are 
dropped  through  the  aperture  in  the  center,  and  fail 
into  a  well  or  pit.  One  tower  is  used  for  a  specified 
time,  and  then  another,  and  so  on,  giving  time  for  the 
bones  to  decay. 

Vultures  have  been  attracted  to  the  vicinity  in 
such  numbers  that  they  are  ready  to  begin  their 
work  the  moment  a  body  is  left,  and  the  largest  and 
toughest  man  has  his  bones  completely  cleaned  in 
two  hours. 

It  makes  me  shudder  to  write  about  it ! 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

FROM  INDIA  TO  EGYPT. 

OaIBAY,  if  it  has  not  already  outstripped  Cal- 
cutta in  commercial  importance,  will  soon  do 
so.  Its  recent  growth  is  like  that  of  the  great 
American  cities.  Two  facts  are  conspiring  to  render 
it  the  great  center  of  Indian  commerce.  It  is  on  the 
west  side  of  the  continent — the  side  nearest  to 
Europe.  It  is,  also,  the  center  of  the  railway  system 
of  India.  This  system  is  already  much  extended, 
and  is  becoming  more  so. 

There  is  not  a  great  deal  to  interest  a  stranger 
here,  except  the  commerce  and  manufactures  of  the 
place.  It  is  essentially  a  modern  city,  though  there 
are  some  ancient  objects  in  the  vicinity  visited  by  all 
travelers.  Americans  are  pleased  to  find  an  instance 
of  Yankee  enterprise  in  the  street-railroad  owned  by 
an  American  company,  with  all  its  rolling-stock 
imported  from  New  York.  But  if  it  is  a  Yankee 
road  it  has  an  English  name — tramway — for  so  are 
street-railways  termed  in  England. 

To  us  a  matter  of  greater  interest  was  the  prosper- 
ous condition  of  the  M.  E.  Church  here.  The  Rev. 
George  Bowen,  the  Presiding  Elder  of  the  Bombay 
District,  is  a  man  o{  great  learning  and  great  mod- 
esty, who  came  to  India  many  years  ago,  under  the 
.inspires  of  the  American    Board,  but  after  a  time 


FROM  INDIA  TO  EGYPT.  28 1 

declined  to  receive  any  salary.  Being  an  unmarried 
man,  he  rented  a  small  room  in  the  native  town,  and 
has  ever  since  lived  on — next  to  nothing.  By- 
natives  and  foreigners  alike  he  is  regarded  as  a  stand- 
ard of  integrity  and  piety.  He  has  been  for  many 
years  editor  of  the  Bombay  Guardian,  an  undenomi- 
national religious  paper.  The  missionaries  of  various 
Churches  united  in  calling  him  to  this  post.  He 
reminds  me  in  his  spirit  and  manners  of  Wesley 
Browning. 

The  pastor  is  the  Rev.  Mr.  Rowe,  a  new  arrival. 
He  is  an  Englishman,  but  naturalized,  ecclesiastically, 
in  the  M.  E.  Church  i.i  America.  He  was  a  class- 
mate and  special  friend,  at  the  Theological  Seminary, 
of  Rev.  James  J.  Watts,  of  St.  Louis,  and  is  full  of  zeal 
and  energy.  Rev.  Mr.  Stevenson  is  engaged  in  the 
work  among  the  natives,  and  is  a  very  earnest  man. 
With  these  brethren  we  took  sweet  counsel,  as  well  as 
with  Mr.  Miles,  a  local  preacher,  who  was  converted 
during  the  "  great  revival."  He  showed  us  much 
kindness.  He  is  the  Assistant  Se-cretary  of  the 
Department  of  Justice  in  the  Bombay  Government. 
A  Goverment  launch  was  placed  at  his  disposal, 
in  which,  with  his  family,  we  visited  the  great 
Hydraulic  Lift  and  the  celebrated  "  Caves  of  Ele- 
phanta." 

The  Hydraulic  Lift  is  a  contrivance  for  raising  the 
largest  ships  out  of  water. 

Elephanta  is  one.  of  several  similar  structures  in 
India.  It  is  a  Brahman  temple  chiseled  out  in  the 
side  of  a  mountain  in  the  solid  rock.  I  did  not 
measure  it,  but  the  principal  apartment  seemed  to 
me  to  penetrate  the  rock  as  much  as  150  feet,  having 


282  FROM  INDIA  TO  EGYPT. 

a  width  of,  may  be,  100  feet  or  more.  But  this  is 
mere  guess-work.  Several  rows  of  columns  are  left 
in  the  solid  rock,  to  give  it  the  air  of  a  building,  I 
should  say,  as  the  solid  rock  above,  I  suppose,  needs 
no  support.  The  wall  on  all  sides  is  literally  covered 
with  images  of  gods  carved  where  they  stand  in  the 
living  rock.  The  sculpture  is  rather  rude,  but  there 
is  a  good  deal  of  life  and  spirit  both  in  the  faces  and 
attitudes.  Some  of  the  attitudes  are  evidently 
intended  to  be  lascivious,  especially  that  of  an  Ama- 
zonian figure  supposed  to  represent  the  wife  of  the 
god  Sciva.  This  deity,  it  is  believed,  is  represented 
by  a  triple-headed  figure  in  the  rear  wall.  This  is 
evidently  intended  to  be  the  principal  figure,  and  to 
represent  the  ruling  divinity  of  the  place.  On  the 
left,  as  you  enter,  there  is  a  smaller  excavation — a 
sort  of  wing.  Another  was  begun  on  the  opposite 
side,  but  evidently  never  finished.  Two  figures  of 
lions  guard  the  entrance  of  the  wing,  and  it  is  said 
that  the  rude  figure  of  an  elephant  stood  in  the  open 
area  in  front  of  it.  This  was  at  one  time  overthrown 
and  broken  into  fragments,  which,  we  were  told, 
were  collected  and  removed  to  the  Victoria  Gardens 
here. 

The  Iconoclast  has  been  busy  at  Elephanta. 
Nearly  every  figure  has  been  more  or  less  mutilated, 
and  some  have  been  almost  entirely  destroyed. 
Some  of  the  columns  have  been  broken  down. 

As  to  the  antiquity  of  this  building,  antiquaries  are 
not  agreed,  I  believe.  The  best  informed,  I  under- 
stand, are  not  very  confident  in  their  opinions. 

I  collected  our  party  together  and,  standing  on 
what  remained  of  a  broken  column,  sang  "All  hail 


FROM  INDIA  TO  EGYPT.  283 

the  power  of  Jesus'  name,"  after  which  we  joined  in 
prayer  to  that  God  whose  throne  is  from  everlasting. 
How  deeply  we  felt  the  contrast  of  his  immutable 
Being  with  these  miserable  fragments  of  broken  gods 
whose  temples  we  had  invaded  with  his  praise  !  In 
the  dim  light  of  that  cavernous  fane,  where  unhal- 
lowed rites  had  once  been  performed  in  honor  of 
deities  themselves  the  embodiment  of  lust,  we  offered 
a  pure  sacrifice  tj  Him  whose  name  is  Holy. 

Rising  from  our  knees,  we  made  the  image-covered 
walls  resound  with  the  Long  Meter  Doxology,  in  the 
triumphant  notes  of  Old  Hundred,  after  which  we  had 
the  Benediction  by  Brother  Bowen,  "  In  the  name  of 
the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
We  left  the  place  with  the  peace  of  God  ruling  in  our 
hearts. 

On  Monday,  March  12,  just  at  nightfall,  we  em- 
barked for  Suez,  in  the  good  ship  Australia,  of  the 
Peninsular  and  Oriental  Line,  Capt.  Woolcot  com- 
manding. This  is  one  of  the- largest  class  of  the  Com- 
pany's steamers-— an  admirable  vessel,  admirably  com- 
manded. The  Captain  has  a  great  desire  to  visit  Bos- 
ton, because  some  of  his  family  emigrated  to  [Massa- 
chusetts two  hundred  years  ago.  He  is  an  efficient 
officer  and  a  thorough  gentleman,  genial  and  accom- 
modating, and  weighs  eighteen  stone. 

The  harbor  pilot  introduced  himself  to  us  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  M.  E.  Church  in.  Bombay.  The  night  is 
clear,  the  stars  are  beautiful — the  lights  along  the  bay- 
shore,  at  the  foot  of  Malabar  Hill,  look  like  a  string 
of  stars.  All  are  on  deck  inhaling  the  fresh  sea- 
breeze,  and  rejoicing  in  an  auspicious  beginning  of 


284  FROM  INDIA  TO  EGYPT. 

the  voyage.     The  earth,  the  heavens,  and  the  sea, 
conspire  to  breathe  delicious  influences. 

"  Lozver  the  boats  /  "  "  Lozver  the  boats  !  "  "  Throw 
out  life-preservers!"  "What  is  it?"  eagerly  demand 
a  hundred  voices.  "Man  overboard!"  respond  one 
and  another.  There  are  always  some  knowing  ones 
who  can  answer  any  question  on  the  instant,  no  mat- 
ter what. 

The  truth  was,  we  had  capsized  a  little  native  boat 
that  had  ventured  out  in  the  dark  without  carrying  a 
light,  so  that  the  pilot  did  not  see  her  until  it  was  too 
late.  The  little  craft  carried  five  men  and  a  boy.  It 
was  to*o  dark  to  see  them,  but  their  cries  of  distress 
were  wafted  to  us  upon  the  night  winds.  It  was  a 
solemn  moment — they  might  be  drowning  even  then ! 
Soon  another  cry  was  heard  immediately  under  the 
stern  of  the  ship.  One  boat  was  already  gone  in  the 
direction  of  the  more  distant  cry.  How  these  men 
do  strain  every  muscle  pulling  at  the  oars  !  God  be 
with  them  now  !  Human  life  depends  upon  their 
speed.  Another  boat  shoots  round  to  the  stern,  and 
there  rescues  an  old  man  and  boy  clinging  to  the 
screw,  which  had  been  instantly  stopped.  Joy! 
They  are  unhurt — they  are  safe  !  They  were  brought, 
dripping,  on  board.  Poor  old  man  !  how  he  wept ! 
It  was  his  boat,  and  his  boat  was  his  all.  But  his  life 
was  saved  !  Grief  and  gladness  at  once  convulsed  his 
heart. 

Our  good  captain  never  rested  until  all  the  six 
were  rescued  and  taken  to  the  light-house.  Thanks 
to  promptness  and  energy,  not  one  was  lost. 

It  is  a  standing  rule  of  these  steamers  to  have  the 
service  of  the  English  Church  read  on  Sunday.     If 


FROM  INDIA  TO  EGYPT.  285 

there  is  no  clergyman  present  the  captain  or  purser 
officiates.  I  have  invariably  declined,  not  so  much 
from  any  conscientious  scruple,  as  because  the  ser- 
vice is  scattered  so  through  the  book,  and  requires 
such  dexterous  turning  from  place  to  place,  that  I 
am  sure  I  should  make  a  miserable  faux  pets  of  it. 
The  Sunday  we  were  on  the  Arabian  Sea  Mr.  Hen- 
drix  read  the  service,  after  which  I  preached.  It 
was  his  first  attempt,  and  he  did  it  excellently.  It  was 
after  sunset  when  we  reached  Aden,  so  that  we  did 
not  go  ashore.  But  several  Arabs  came  aboard  with 
ostrich-feathers  for  sale.  Sunday  as  it  was  they  did  a 
brisk  business  with  the  Christian  (?)  passengers. 

Aden  is  upon  the  southernmost  projecting  point  of 
Arabia,  and  belongs  to  England,  having  been  taken 
in  the  way  of  reprisal  on  account  of  the  mistreatment 
of  a  disabled  ship.  The  natives  are  kept  in  whole- 
some awe  by  a  Sepoy  garrison,  and  no  British  ship 
has  been  insulted  in  these  waters  since.  You  may 
depend  on  it  our  English  cousins  deport  themselves 
right  imperially  in  the  Orient.  They  have  a  line  of 
naval  stations  from  Southampton  to  India,  and  are 
prepared  to  take  care  of  their  sailors  everywhere  in 
most  prompt  and  effectual  way.  At  Aden  we  took 
on  a  lot  of  Mocha  coffee. 

While  we  were  at  breakfast  on  Monday  morning 
we  passed  the  Island  of  Purim,  and  through  the 
Straits  of  Babelmandeb,  entering  the  Red  Sea,  and 
having  Abyssinia  on  our  left,  and  Arabia  on  our 
right.  By  a  little  after  noon  we  came  in  full  view  of 
the  city  of  Mocha,  which  is  a  much  larger  place  than 
I  supposed.  Aden,  too,  is  a  more  important  place 
than  I  had  imagined,  having  a  population    of  22,oco. 


286  FROM  INDIA  TO  EGYPT. 

I  imagine  we  have  as  delightful  a  set  of  English 
passengers  as  ever  got  together  upon  one  ship. 
There  is  scarcely  a  disgusting  swell  among  them. 
They  are  intelligent,  sensible,  genial.  Most  of  them 
are  in  the  Indian  service,  civil  and  military,  and 
going  home  on  leave.  There  are  several  families. 
There  is  a  piano  on  the  deck,  and  in  the  evenings  we 
have  much  music  and  singing — most  of  it  rather 
insipid;  but  at  the  end  of  every  piece  there  is 
applause,  but  this  is  as  feeble  as  the  music  is  dull. 
Is  there  anything  in  this  world  more  ridiculous  than 
a  set  of  people  applauding  because  they  are  duty 
bound. 

On  Friday  morning  we  awoke  in  the  Gulf  of 
Suez — and,  but  for  some  intervening  ranges,  would 
have  had  Mt.  Sinai  full  in  sight.  We  were  rapidly 
nearing  the  scenes  of  sacred  history.  To  us  it  was 
an  interesting  moment. 

At  about  four  o'clock,  p.  m.,  we  reached  the  point 
at  which  immemorial  tradition  has  located  the  cross- 
ing of  the  Red  Sea  by  the  chosen  Tribes.  I  must 
say  that  the  view  of  the  locality  goes  far  to  confirm 
my  conviction  of  the  truth  of  this  one  tradition. 
The  route  from  the  land  of  Goshen  was  altogether 
practicable.  If  it  is  objected  that  Moses  must  have 
known  that  the  Red  Sea  would  arrest  their  progress 
on  this  line  of  march,  and  would  therefore  certainly 
avoid  it,  the  reply  is  that  God  himself  directed  them, 
and  he  knew  the  resources  of  his  own  power  to  open 
their  way.  All  the  requirements  of  the  narrative 
seem  to  me  to  be  met  here,  and  nowhere  else. 

Even  from  on  shipboard  one  can  well  see  how 
impossible  escape  was,  on  the   supposition  that  the 


FROM  INDIA  TO  EGYPT.  2%J 

Egyptian  army  was  upon  their  rear,  in  pursuit. 
True,  the  mountains  on  the  right  hand  and  left  are 
not  so  lofty  as  my  youthful  imagination  had  depicted, 
but  there  they  are,  lofty  and  precipitous  enough  to 
constitute  an  effectual  barrier  in  the  way  of  such  a 
multitude. 

It  is  most  true  that  if  the  crossing  was  here  the 
miracle  was  one  of  stupendous  proportions.  There 
is,  I  know,  of  late  years,  a  class  of  writers  who  do 
not  deny  miracles,  but  yet  strive  to  reduce  both  the 
number  and  magnitude  of  them  to  a  minimum  point. 
They  seem  as  shy  of  miracles  as  if  they  were  to  be 
regarded  as  a  sort  of  incubus  upon  the  Christian  sys- 
tem. But  I  can  see  neither  good  sense  nor  good 
logic  in  this.  If  any  miracle  is  to  be  admitted,  there 
can  be  no  advantage  in  straining  a  point  to  get  rid  of 
such  as  appear  by  the  very  conditions  of  the  narra- 
tive to  be  given  as  such.  Nothing  can  be  more  evi- 
dent than  that  the  account  of  the  passage  of  the  Red 
Sea  is  intended  to  be  understood  to  be  a  miracle  of 
the  most  remarkable  kind.  Any  interpretation  that 
seeks  to  get  rid  of  this  surface-import  of  the  place 
must  be  strained  and  unnatural,  and  the  effort  to 
commend  the  Scriptures  to  minds  skeptically  dis- 
posed by  such  means,  must  of  necessity  defeat  its 
own  purpose ;  for  if  a  man  finds  that  the  text  must 
be  sugar-coated  for  him  he  will  be  more  disposed  to 
revolt  against  it  disguised  than  in  its  proper  charac- 
ter ;  for  it  is  of  the  very  nature  of  the  Christian  reve- 
lation that,  if  it  is  of  any  value  at  all,  it  is  so  for  what 
it  purports  to  be,  and  when  a  healthy  mind  receives 
it,  it  must  do  so  heartily,  and  in  the  utmost  spirit  of 
candor.     Indeed,  no  man.  whose  mental  faculties  are 


288  FROM  INDIA  TO  EGYPT. 

in  a  normal  condition,  can  believe  in  the  truth  of  the 
Bible  at  all,  as  a  revelation  from  God,  and  not  at  the 
same  time  admit  the  miraculous  character  of  some  of 
the  facts  it  sets  forth. 

But  if  any  miracle  is  to  be  accepted,  it  seems  to 
me  this  one  must  be.  At  least,  there  is  as  little 
occasion  to  question  it  as  any.  The  occasion  was, 
unquestionably ,  one  of  sufficient  magnitude  to  justify 
a  special  manifestation  of  the  divine  presence  and 
power.  Gcd  was  just  taking  this  people  under  special 
tutelage  with  a  view  to  the  highest  ends,  not  for 
themselves  alone,  but  such  as  embraced  the  destinies 
of  the  human  race.  They  were  to  be  the  depositaries 
of  his  word,  and  custodians  of  his  grace  for  mankind. 
To  this  end  they  must  be  at  once  brought  out  from 
among  the  idolators,  and  rescued  from  all  idolatrous 
tendencies  among  themselves.  For  several  ages 
they  had  been  "sojourning  in  the  land  of  Ham," 
and,  as  abundant  facts  show,  they  had  contracted 
such  habits  of  thought  from  the  prevalent  religion 
that  all  the  "  wonders  "  wrought  upon  the  heathen 
and  among  themselves  could  scarcely  correct  the 
taint.  The  plagues,  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea, 
the  scenes  of  Mount  Sinia,  the  quails  and  manna, 
their  conquest  of  the  Holy  Land,  and  all  the  signs 
from  heaven  that  followed  upon  these  through- 
out their  most  marvelous  history,  scarcely  sufficed 
to  secure  them  from  lapsing  into  the  grossest  forms 
of  Polytheistic  belief.  Surely  it  was  an  occasion  for 
God  to  come  forth  out  of  the  ordinary  methods  of 
his  working,  and  in  new  and  startling  forms,  such  as 
the  most  stupid  might  recognize,  manifest  forth  his 
glory. 


FROM  INDIA  TO  EGYPT.  289 

If  the  occasion  called  for  a  miracle  I  can  see  no 
reason  why  it  should  not  be  wrought  on  a  great 
scale.  Why  should  not  God  open  a  way  through 
the  sea  where  it  has  a  width  of  twenty  miles  as  well 
as  where  it  is  of  any  lesser  magnitude. 

The  truth  is  that  those  who  are  always  endeavoring 
to  fritter  away  the  miracles  are  sapping  the  very  foun- 
dations of  the  faith.  A  religion  that  ignores  the 
supernatural  is  no  religion  at  all.  It  may  be  a  system 
of  philosophy,  or  of  ethics,  but  religion  it  is  not. 
The  Bible  emptied  of  its  miracles  is  altogether  evis- 
cerated. 

Why  should  men,  then,  violate  the  probabilities  of 
the  case  to  put  the  crossing  at  a  place  where  natural 
agencies  might  account  for  the  phenomenon,  and  so 
discredit  the  narrative  which  was  so  clearly  written  to 
convey  the  impression  that  it  was  a  miracle,  and  a  very 
great  one  ? 

I  strove  to  imagine  the  scene  when  the  camp  of  the 
Israelites  was  on  the  Egyptian  shore,  in  the  depres- 
sion between  the  two  mountain  ranges  we  had  full  in 
sight.  It  must  have  covered  an  extent  of  ground 
several  miles  square.  There  they  were,  men,  women, 
and  children,  flocks  and  herds.  The  Egyptians^ 
knowing  the  country,  saw  from  the  route  they  had 
taken  that  "they  were  entangled  in  the  land;  the 
wilderness  had  shut  them  in."  It  was  even  so.  They 
had  run  into  a  net,  and  Pharaoh  had  nothing  to  do 
but  to  go  with  a  sufficient  military  force — and  that, 
in  the  circumstances  need  not  be  large — and  drive 
them  back  to  their  tasks.  The  dismay  and  terror  that 
were  felt  among  the  people  must  have  been  some- 
thing fearful.  The  Egyptian  army  would  soon  be 
10 


2oX>  FROM  INDIA  TO  EGYPT. 

precipitated  upon  them.  The  dreadful  war-chariots, 
drawn  by  fierce  fiery  horses,  would  sweep  through 
the  helpless  throng,  and  trample  and  mutilate  and 
slay. 

But  God  has  his  own  methods,  and  his  own  time 
of  deliverance,  and  both  in  method  and  time  he  often 
brings  a  joyful  surprise  to  his  people. 

In  full  view,  on  the  other  side,  was  the  shore  of 
deliverance.  There,  in  sight,  was  all  the  exultant 
host  when  they  sang  the  song  of  Moses.  There 
"  Miriam,  the  prophetess,  the  sister  of  Aaron,  took  a 
timbrel  in  her  hand,  and  all  the  women  went  out 
after  her  with  timbrels  and  with  dances.  And 
Miriam  answerd  them,  '  Sing  ye  to  the  Lord,  for  he 
hath  triumphed  gloriously :  the  horse  and  his  rider 
hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea.' " 

Diagonally  across  you  see  from  the  deck  of  the 
ship  a  grove  of  palm-trees,  where  there  are  three 
wells  of  water.  These  are  called  "  The  Wells  of 
Moses."  The  abounding  traditions  of  the  country 
fix  on  this  as  a  camping-ground  of  the  children  of 
Isreal.  But  if  it  was,  they  went  considerably  out  of 
their  way  to  reach  it.  The  Arab  is  full  of  traditions, 
and,  as  a  rule,  they  are  of  no  value  whatever. 

But  almost  immediately  the  people  began  to  mur- 
mur. Groaning  under  the  intolerable  labors  of  their 
bondage  in  Egypt,  they  had  hailed  their  deliverer, 
and  followed  him  into  the  wilderness  with  an  eager 
and  thoughtless  faith,  not  dreaming  of  any  evils  to 
come.  But  here  they  are  now  destitute  of  bread  and 
perishing  for  water. 

One  glance  at  this  desert  will  show  how  impossi- 
ble it  must  have  been  for  such  a  multitude  to  be  fed. 


FROM  INDIA  TO  EGYPT.  29 1 

From  Aden  on,  wherever  we  had  sighted  land,  there 
was  one  uniform  desert.  We  had  positively  seen  no 
green  thing,  except  on  one  small  island,  where  there 
were  perhaps  twenty  palm-trees.  Then  there  was 
the  little  cluster  of  palms  at  the  Wells  of  Moses. 
Aden  is  a  barren  rock.  It  is  a  shipping  point  for 
Mocha  coffee,  and  other  products  of  the  interior. 
This  and  the  English  garrison  make  it  all  that  it  is. 
It  is  said  that  it  rains  there,  on  an  average,  once 
in  three  year's.  Three  reservoirs,  made  by  three 
dams  across  a  mountain  gorge,  one  below  the  other, 
preserve  the  water,  and  contain  the  supply  for  the 
long  interval. 

Upon  reflection,  I  believe  a  little  verdure  appears 
at  Mocha.  But  the  exception  is  so  slight  that  it 
may  be  said  this  whole  region  is  an  area  of  rock 
and  sand  under  a  blazing  sky.  On  the  African 
side  it  is  no  better. 

How  well  one  understands  the  murmuring  of  the 
people  on  account  of  hunger  when  he  once  sees  the 
region  they  were  in.  What  added  to  their  distress 
was  their  recollection  of  the  prolific  fields  of  the  Nile 
valley  they  had  so  recently  left.  One  must  see  this 
valley  to  realize  the  contrast.  What  wonderful  uni- 
formity of  luxuriant  harvests !  What  surpassing 
verdure  !  Was  it  because  I  came  upon  it  so  sud- 
denly out  of  the  desert  that  this  valley  seemed  the 
freshest,  greenest  place  I  had  ever  seen  ?  The  con- 
trast was  reversed  with  the  children  of  Israel.  They 
had  gone  out  of  the  valley  into  the  wilderness — a 
treeless  desert — where  only  interminable  wastes  met 
their  cry  for  bread,  and  the  deceitful  mirage  mocked 
their  raging  thirst. 


292  FROM  INDIA  TO  EGYPT. 

Think  what  human  nature  is.  Think  what  your 
own  nature  is.  Think  what  the  desert  is,  and  what 
Egypt  is,  and  then  say  if  you,  too,  would  not  have 
longed  for  the  fleshpots. 

It  was  half-past  five  o'clock  on  Friday  afternoon 
when  we  cast  anchor  at  Suez,  in  sight  of  the  mouth 
of  the  great  canal.  We  were  at  the  very  head  of  the 
Gulf  of  Suez,  which  terminates  in  an  oval  point.  We 
waited  long  for  the  steam  launch,  which  we  had  been 
told  would  come  out  and  take  us  to  the  very  door 
of  our  hotel,  and  waited  in  vain  At  last  ten  of  us 
engaged  a  little  boat  that  had  brought  out  fruit  to 
sell,  but  which  would  take  us  only  to  the  pier,  two 
miles  from  the  hotel. 

But  of  that  landing  by  moonlight,  of  the  donkeys 
and  donkey-boys,  of  the  handling  of  baggage,  of  the 
brisk  ride  along  the  elevated  track  of  the  railroad, 
and  then  through  the  narrow  streets  of  Suez,  and  of 
the  custom-house  officials  that  met  us  in  the  way, 
and  how  we  disposed  of  them,  I  must  speak  when  I 
have  greater  space. 


'     CHAPTER  XXIII. 

SUEZ CAIRO. 

OUR  VERY  first  experience  in  Egypt  was  with 
the  world-renowned  donkeys  and  donkey-boys. 
On  the  perpendicular  edge  of  the  stone  pier  at 
Suez  we  met  them  in  their  strength,  clamorous  and 
persistent  beyond  belief  as  to  which  should  get  pos- 
session of  our  persons  and  baggage.  A  half-grown 
moon  shed  its  light  upon  the  scene,  or  I  know  not 
what  we  should  have  done.  At  last  our  baggage, 
consisting  of  two  heavy  valises  and  two  large  shawl- 
strap  bundles,  were  loaded  upon  one  little  donkey,  and 
each  of  us  upon  another.  Our  party,  for  the  moment, 
consisted  of  H.,  myself,  and  eight  others.  H.  and  I 
got  the  best  donkeys  of  the  lot,  or  else  we  were  the 
best  riders.  Away  we  dashed  up  the  road  on  our  two- 
mile  ride  to  the  hotel,  our  boys  on  foot  not  only  keep- 
ing up,  but  urging  the  donkeys  on.  These  donkey- 
boys  are  the,  best-natured  fellows  in  the  world,  and 
afford  travelers,  who  are  disposed  to  enjoy  it,  a  great 
deal  of  amusement.  Mine  turned  out  to  be  a  Nubian 
as  black  as  if  he  had  been  created  out  of  a  fragment 
of  the  old  Egyptian  darkness  ;  but  they  are  gener- 
ally Arabs.  H.  got  one  of  the  latter  class,  and  soon 
learned  that  the  name  of  his  donkey  was  "  The  Earl 
of  Salisbury."  You  ought  to  have  heard  him  laugh. 
It  put  him  almost  beside  himself — the  thought  that 


294  SUEZ — CAIRO. 

he  was  bestriding  so  distinguished  a  personage.  As 
for  mine,  he  was  distinguished,  not  for  patrician 
blood,  but  for  the  faithful  and  efficient  discharge  of 
his  duties. 

We  soon  discovered  that  we  were  .on  a  railroad 
embankment,  projecting  out  into  the  edge  of  the 
gulf,  with  water  on  both  sides  of  us.  As  we  swept 
along  at  full  pace,  chatting  and  laughing  over  our 
first  Egyptian  experience,  we  were  suddenly  arrested 
by  the  cry,  "  Custom-house !  Custom-house !" 
"  Where  is  the  Custom-house  ?  There  is  no  house 
here."  "This  man,  sir,  this  man  here,  he  is  the  cus- 
tom-man ;  he  want  to  see  your  baggage."  By  this 
time  our  baggage-mule  was  up.  We  put  a  bold  front 
on,  and  told  him  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  our  bag- 
gage— that  we  were  travelers,  with  nothing  but  cloth- 
ing. But  he  made  as  if  he  must  examine  and  see  if 
all  was  right.  However,  we  peremptorily  com- 
manded our  boy  to  drive  on.  He  hesitated  a  mo- 
ment, but  obeyed  us.  By  this  time  others  of  our 
party  rode  up,  and  I  suppose  the  "custom-house" 
had  his  hands  full  with  them.  So  we  went  careering 
on  again,  amusing  ourselves  with  the  wit  of  our 
donkey-boys,  delivered  in  broken  English.  We 
learned  afterward  that  one  of  our  friends  gave  the 
faithful  official  a  shilling,  which  seemed  to  quiet  his 
conscience  completely. 

We  felt  much  at  our  ease,  having,  as  we  supposed, 
got  by  all  our  difficulties.  We  had  reached  the 
town,  and  were  just  turning  into  the  street  which  led 
to  the  Suez  Hotel,  when  we  were  arrested  a  second 
time — "Custom-house,  sir,  custom-house."  We 
promptly    informed    the    distinguished    Arab,    who 


SUEZ — CAIRO.  295 

appeared  in  his  long  black  cloak  and  red  fez  hat, 
that  we  had  already  passed  one  custom-house,  and 
did  not  intend  to  be  stopped  again.  "  Yes,"  vocif- 
orated  the  donkey-boys,  "  de  gentlemen  already 
pass  one  custom-house" — and  so  we  pushed  ahead. 

We  were  soon  riding  along  a  narrow  street,  well- 
lighted  from  the  shops  which  opened  full  upon  it. 
It  was  crowded  with  people  who  were  out  enjoying 
the  festivities  incident  to  the  approaching  birthday  of 
the  Prophet.  We  turned  a  corner  into  another  nar- 
nower  street,  and  still  another.  These  streets  were 
too  narrow  for  two  abreast,  and  I  had  got  well  ahead 
of  all  the  rest,  my  Nubian  all  the  while  urging  on  his 
donkey.  We  soon  turned  suddenly  into  the  nar- 
rowest of  streets,  with  no  lighted  shops,  and  the  walls 
rising  up  so  as  to  exclude  the  moonlight.  It  was 
pitch  dark.  The  little  space  around  me  was,  so  far 
as  I  could  tell,  of  the  exact  color  of  my  Nubian;  but 
I  have  always  had  great  faith  in  the  fidelity  of  a 
well-treated  darkey,  and  so  I  moved  on  without  the 
least  hesitation. 

I  had  been  at  the  hotel  gate  but  a  moment  when 
the  Earl  came  up  with  his  rider,  all  safe  and  sound, 
and  immediately  in  his  rear  came  the  baggage,  which 
had  run  the  gauntlet  of  custom-houses  without  hav- 
ing contributed  a  cent  to  the  revenues  of  the  bank- 
rupt Government,  or  to  the  stealages  of  the  officials. 

We  found  excellent  quarters  and  good  fare  at  the 
Suez  Hotel,  and  paid  a  good  round  price  for  it,  and 
at  8  o'clock  were  off  by  rail  for  Cairo.  In  a  few 
minutes  we  were  fairly  out  into  the  Egyptian  desert. 
On  our  left  was  the  ridge  just  beyond  which  we  sup- 
posed the  track  of  the  children  of  Israel  lay  when 


2g6  SUEZ — CAIRO. 

the  Egyptians  pursued  them.  The  precipitous  face 
of  it  was  of  a  dark-brown  color,  with  a  stratum  of 
white-looking  rock  running  all  along,  about  one- 
third  of  the  way  down  from  the  top.  We  should 
probably  be,  before  the  close  of  the  day,  in  the  land 
of  Goshen,  or  if  not,  then  certainly  very  near  it. 

To  Ismaili  the  road  follows  the  course  of  the 
canal,  then  strikes  across  to  Zigazag,  in  the  edge  of 
the  Delta  of  the  Nile,  making  a  very  circuitous 
course. 

What  shall  I  say  of  this  desert?  It  is  all  of  a 
piece  with  that  on  the  Arabian  side  of  the  Red  Sea, 
and  is,  indeed,  a  part  of  it.  Those  who  have  seen 
the  worst  of  the  American  deserts  in  the  West  may 
form  some  idea  of  it.  Like  them  it  is  completely 
destitute  of  trees,  and  yet  more  entirely  bare  of  all 
smaller  vegetation  than  they.  For  the  greater  part 
of  the  way  it  is  a  mere  level  waste  of  sand,  much  of 
it  lying  loose,  and  at  the  mercy  of  the  wind.  In 
several  places  we  saw  sand  fences,  made  for  the 
same  purpose  of  protecting  the  road  as  the  snow- 
fences  on  the  Union  Pacific  and  Central  T  .cific  Rail- 
roads. The  track  is  in  the  same  danger  of  being 
obstructed  by  sand-drifts  here  as  by  snow-drifts 
there.  Much  of  it  is  a  dead  level,  but  there  are 
slight  elevations  here  and  there,  and  in  the  distance, 
to  the  left,  some  low  ranges  of  rocky,  barren  moun- 
tains.    But  all  is  desert — all  is  desolation. 

To  say  there  is  absolutely  no  vegetation  in  the 
desert  would  not  be  quite  true.  But  there  are  great 
reaches  of  it  as  bare  as  any  sand-bank  in  the  world. 
Once  in  a  while,  though,  there  are  scattered  tufts  of 
a  sort  of  weed  resembling,  in  its  general  appearance, 


SUEZ — CAIRO.  297 

one  I  have  seen  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  in  a  few 
places  I  saw  a  small  shrub  that  has  somewhat  the 
aspect  of  the  mountain-sage,  though  differing  from  it 
considerably.  Hillocks  of  sand  are  formed  where, 
drifting  before  the  wind,  it  lodges  against  the  tufts, 
becomes  fixed  by  their  roots,  and  enlarges  as  the 
tuft  increases  in  size.  I  have  seen  the  like  in  Ameri- 
can deserts. 

The  canal  taps  two  considerable  lakes  in  its 
course,  both  of  which  are  in  full  view  from  the  rail- 
road. The  surface  of  these,  rippling  in  the  rays  of 
the  sun,  relieves  the  brown  baldness  of  the  desert 
very  pleasantly. 

A  short  branch  of  the  road,  only  a  mile  or  two  in 
length,  runs  down  to  Ismaili;  on  to  this  the  train  is 
switched.  After  running  down  to  the  town,  we  back 
up  to  the  main  track,  and,  leaving  the  course  of  the 
canal,  strike  across  in  a  straight  line  for  the  Delta, 
which  we  enter  about  seventy  miles  south  of  Cairo. 
On  nearing  the  Delta  we  first  come  upon  some  lines 
and  patches  of  verdure,  and  a  few  scattering  palm- 
trees  ;  then,  ere  we  are  aware  of  it,  we  are  in  the 
midst  of  an  ocean  of  green  fields,  with  groves  of 
palm  here  and  there,  the  whole  presenting  a  wealth 
of  luxuriant  productiveness,  in  such  violent  contrast 
with  the  desert,  that  we  involuntarily  exclaim,  "We 
are  in  a  new  world/"  There  is  probably  no  place  on 
earth  where  the  most  abounding  life  is  brought  into 
such  close  contrast  with  the  blackest  desolation. 
The  nearest  approach  to  it  I  have  ever  seen  is  in  the 
valley  of  the  great  Salt  Lake  in  Utah  Territory. 

From  this  point    to  Cairo   we  are    in    the   midst 
of  fields   of    wheat,   barley,    clover,  flax,   oats,  and 


298  SUEZ — CAIRO. 

various  species  of  vegetables.  The  cereals  are  just 
in  full  head,  not  yet  beginning  to  change  color. 
Green,  deep,  luxuriant  green,  refreshes  the  eye  on  all 
sides.  I  at  first  mistook  the  wheat  for  barley,  it  is  so 
heavily  bearded.  The  head  is  extremely  short  and 
large.  The  stalk  is  not  remarkably  long,  but  thick 
upon  the  ground.  The  flax  is  ripening,  and  patches 
of  this  offer  the  only  points  of  contrast  with  the 
otherwise  universal  verdure.  One  large  field  of 
onions  I  saw,  and  thought,  of  course,  of  the  "leeks 
and  onions." 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  the  mud  villages  appear 
every  here  and  there.  Every  traveler  in  Egypt  ob- 
serves these,  and  remarks  upon  them  as  a  repulsive 
feature  in  the  otherwise  cheerful  landscape.  They  are 
indeed  so,  but  yet  the  average  hut  of  the  Egyptian  vil- 
lage is  larger  than  that  of  the  villages  in  the  valley  of 
the  Ganges.  Here,  as  there,  the  rural  population  all 
cluster  together  in  villages.  But  the  village  of  the 
Nile  is  a  more  prominent  object,  and  attracts  more 
notice,  being  built  on  elevated  ground  in  the  midst  of 
the  surrounding  fields,  which  are  literally  as  level  as  a 
floor.  This  is  a  necessary  incident  of  the  annual 
inundation.  These  elevations  themselves,  however, 
are  not  above  the  reach  of  the  greatest  floods. 

A  very  striking  object  in  sight  at  every  turn  is  the 
water-wheel,  used  in  elevating  water  out  of  the  canal 
for  purposes  of  irrigation.  Canals  check  the  Delta 
everywhere,  and  the  land  is  irrigated  very  freely. 
But  the  surface  of  the  canal  is  several  feet  below  that 
of  the  fields,  so  that  the  water  cannot  be  turned  on 
as  in  Montana,  and  elsewhere  in  the  West,  but  has 
to  be  raised  and  delivered  into  the   ditches   in  the 


SUEZ CAIRO.  299 

fields  by  artificial  means.  Sometimes  you  see  a  man 
standing  in  the  canal,  dipping  it  up  in  buckets,  and 
pouring  it  into  a  little  ditch  that  communicates  with 
his  fields.  But  more  frequently  there  is  a  wheel 
worked  by  oxen  or  buffaloes.  There  is  a  wheel  that 
lies  horizontally,  connected  with  a  shaft  to  which  the 
ox  is  hitched,  moving  round  and  round  as  the  horses 
do  in  an  old-fashioned  horse-mill.  Cogs  pointing 
downward  from  the  rim  of  this,  work  in  a  drumhead, 
which  turns  the  water-wheel.  This  revolves  perpen- 
dicularly. Buckets  attached  to  the  rim  of  this 
descend  into  the  water  empty,  with  the  mouth  down- 
ward, and  come  up  full,  with  the  mouth  up.  As  they 
make  the  upper  turn  they  discharge  their  contents 
into  a  trough. 

But  some  of  the  wheels  are  more  neatly  contrived, 
the  rim  being  itself  a  hollow  receptacle  for  the  water, 
which  is  continually  filling  itself  from  below,  and 
discharging  its  contents  from  the  side  as  it  reaches 
the  right  elevation. 

The  sun  was  still  an  hour  high  as  we  approached 
the  great  city.  "  The  Pyramids  !"  exclaimed  a  pas- 
senger. All  heads  were  thrust  out  of  the  win- 
dows in  an  instant.  Sure  enough,  there  they  were, 
great  Cheops  and  his  companion,  beyond  the  river, 
on  the  edge  of  the  desert. 

Soon  the  minarets  and  larger  buildings  of  Cairo 
began  to  appear.  Like  the  great  cities  of  India,  it  has 
many  buildings  in  the  European  style.  The  Western 
civilization  is  penetrating  the  East — there  can  be  no 
doubt  of  it.  It  appears  first  in  its  material  expression 
— into  the  more  purely  intellectual  region  of  science 
and  philosophy,   and  the  higher  region   of  faith,  it 


300  SUEZ — CAIRO. 

enters  with  greater  difficulty.  So,  also,  it  appears 
first  in  the  cities,  and  among  the  commercial  and 
wealthy  classes,  diffusing  itself  slowly  through  the 
country  and  among  the  ignorant  masses. 

As  we  drove  through  the  streets  from  the  depot,  in 
the  spacious,  open-sided  omnibus  of  Shepherd's 
Hotel,  we  passed  along  a  mile,  perhaps,  of  massive 
and  elegant  buildings  on  both  sides.  It  is  by  far  the 
largest  city  of  Egypt,  and  is  said  to  be  the  second  in 
size  of  the  Mussulman  world.  The  hotel  we  found  to 
be  a  spacious  building,  with  excellent  rooms,  ele- 
gantly furnished.  The  eating  is  choice,  the  attend- 
ance first-rate,  the  washing  faultless — prices  up  to 
the  American  standard,  with  a  good  many  extras  that 
you  can  take  or  dispense  with  at  pleasure. 

From  Yokohama  onward,  through  the  cities  of 
China,  in  the  Straits  Settlements,  in  Ceylon,  and 
throughout  India,  we  found  ourselves  in  an  English 
atmosphere.  I  have  referred  to  this  in  former  com- 
munications. But  the  moment  you  land  at  Suez  you 
become  conscious  of  a  change.  In  Egypt  every 
thing  is  decidedly  Frenchy.  Business  men  and  postal 
signs  are  in  French.  Tailors'  shops  are  Sartoria. 
Your  hotel-waiter  is  an  elegantly  got-up  Frenchman, 
in  spotless  linen  and  a  swallow-tail  coat.  Your  bill 
of  fare  is  in  French.  The  Museum  is  "  Musee  U An- 
tiquites  Egyptiennes."  At  the  railroad  depot,  if  you 
would  know  which  is  the  waiting-room  for  men,  and 
which  for  women,  you  must  be  able  to  read  French. 
So  of  everything  else. 

Yet  at  your  hotel  you  will  find  nearly  all  the  guests 
English,  and  the  clerk,  though  probably  a  French- 
man, will  be  able  to  converse  very  fluently  in  English. 


SUEZ — CAIRO.  301 

The  population  of  Egypt  is  set  down  at  8,400,000. 
Of  these  about  200,000  are  Copts.  They  are  gener- 
ally found  in  the  towns  and  cities.  They  are  largely 
employed  in  places  of  official  trust,  or  as  clerks  and 
accountants  in  business  houses.  The  Copts  are 
Christians,  but  as  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches, 
so  in  theirs,  there  is  little  else  than  dead  formalitv. 
Holy  places  and  holy  relics  abound  among  them, 
with  the  use  of  the  crucifix,  and  lights  always  burn- 
ing. 

Our  Sunday  was  spent  with  the  Mission  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  Church.  This  is  the  only 
Protestant  Church  engaged  in  missionary  labors  in 
Egypt.  The  first  missionaries  entered  the  field  in 
1854.  The  first  Church  was  organized  in  Cairo  in 
1863.  They  are  now  at  work  in  Alexandria,  Cairo, 
Monsura,  Sinoris,  Osiut,  Motea,  Nakhaleh,  Koos, 
and  several  smaller  places.  There  are  now  eight 
missionaries  in  the  field.  The  Report  for  1875 
shows  a  membership  of  6/6.  The  Sabbath-school 
attendance  is  set  down  at  658.  Pupils  in  day- 
schools,  1,040;  in  boarding-schools,  66 ;  in  college, 
84.;  in  theological  school,  10.  Present  statistics 
would  put  up  all  these  figures  considerably.  Con- 
gregations in  some  places  are  small,  in  others  quite 
1  -rge.  The  missionaries  are  full  of  hope  and  zeal, 
a  id  abundant  in  labors.  Their  success  is  confined 
a' most  entirely  to  the  Copts,  though  there  are 
instances  of  conversion  among  the  Mahommedans. 

The  gentlemen  of  the  Mission  were  all  away  at 
Osiut,  attending  a  session  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Egypt.  The  ladies,  however,  welcomed  us,  and 
gave  us  valuable  information.     We  saw  the  Sunday- 


302  SUEZ — CAIRO. 

school,  and  heard  a  native  helper,  in  the  morning. 
It  was  his  first  sermon.  His  text  was  well  chosen ; 
"Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay."  He  is  a  fine- 
looking  man,  and  seemed  self-possessed  and  earnest. 
By  the  way,  both  Copts  and  Arabs  here  are  of  a 
decidedly  lighter  complexion  than  our  Aryan  cous- 
ins in  India. 

A  young  divinity  student  from  America  had  been 
engaged  to  preach  at  1 1  o'clock,  in  English.  He 
read  a  very  good  sermon  on  the  Transfiguration. 

We  were  invited  to  preach  to  the  natives  in 
another  part  of  the  city,  where  Miss  Thompson  has 
a  Sunday-school,  in  connection  with  which  there  is 
usually  preaching  to  a  small  congregation.  Mr. 
Heridrix  preached  to  them  a  very  suggestive  ser- 
mon on  the  Burning  Bush.  A  native  teacher,  a 
young  man,  interpreted  for  him,  and,  Miss  Thomp- 
son assured  us,  did  it  very  well.  At  five  o'clock  we 
were  at  the  Church  again,  and  heard  a  sermon  in 
Arabic,  read  by  one  of  the  deacons,  who  is  a  Greek. 
Mrs.  Lansing,  the  wife  of  the  missionary  in  charge, 
requested  me  to  give  the  native  Christians  some 
account  of  our  voyage,  with  such  exhortations  as  I 
might  feel  disposed  to  offer.  My  interpreter  was  the 
young  preacher  of  the  morning — a  capital  young 
man.  After  a  very  brief  sketch  of  our  trip,  I  pro- 
claimed to  them,  "There  is  no  God  but  God,  and 
Jesus  Christ  is  his  Son,"  which  my  interpreter  ren- 
dered with  an  evident  glow  of  sensibility,  giving  it  in 
excellent  tone  and  emphasis.  Even  here  in  Africa 
I  have  preached  "Jesus  and  the  resurrection." 

My  friends  must  bear  with  me  if  I  pause  long 
enough  to  say  that  no  incident  of  my  trip  gives  me 


SUEZ — CAIRO.  3O3 

so  much  satisfaction  as  the  opportunity  it  has  given 
me  of  preaching  Christ  in  Japan,  China,  Ceylon, 
India,  and  Egypt. 

On  Monday  we  had  a  busy  day.  First  we  visited 
an  old  mosque,  at  the  entrance  of  which  they 
required  us  to  take  off  our  boots.  But  we  were  in  no 
distress  to  enter,  and  so  turned  away  with  our  boots 
on.  The  old  priest  looked  regretfully  after  us,  for 
had  he  not  lost  a  fee  ?  We  then  drove  to  the  citadel. 
Cairo  stands  in  the  Nile  Valley,  but  at  the  very  base 
of  the  bluff-like  elevation  which  rises  to  the  general 
level  of  the  desert.  Half-way  up  this  ascent  stands 
the  citadel,  overlooking  the  city,  the  valley  and  the 
upper  end  of  the  Delta,  which  begins  to  spread  out  at 
Cairo.  The  walls  are  massive.  Within  its  inclosure 
is  the  Mosque  of  Mehemet  AH.  It  is  a  very  modern 
structure,  built  of  Oriental  alabaster.  This  stone 
takes  a  good  polish,  and  presents  a  variegated  sur- 
face of  white  and  amber  colors.  The  two  colors  are 
in  rare  instances  separated  from  each  other  sharply, 
but  generally  they  shade  off  into  each  other,  a  great 
part  of  the  polished  area  presenting  a  mottled  or 
crowded  appearance,  which  is  extremely  rich.  Col- 
umns, arches,  domes,  galleries,  are  all  magnificent. 
The  great  central  dome,  especially,  is  brilliant  with 
gorgeous  coloring.  The  architecture  is  perhaps  not 
so  good  as  that  of  the  great  mosques  at  Agra  and 
Dehli,but  it  is  of  a  different  style,  and,  I  think,  more 
imposing.  Those  all  had  one  open  side ;  this  has  not. 
It  has  a  countless  number  of  lamps  and  chandeliers, 
and,  when  fully  illuminated,  as  it  sometimes  is,  the 
splendor  of  the  scene  must  be  indescribable. 

It  is  a  rule  q{  the  mosques  to  require  the  shoes  to 


304  SUEZ — CAIRO. 

be  removed  before  a  man  is  allowed  to  enter,  but  in 
this  instance  a  sort  of  cloth  oversock  was  put  on  over 
our  boots,  and  so,  I  suppose,  we  were  constructively 
barefoot.  The  whole  area  of  the  floor  was  covered 
with  carpeting.  A  "  dim  religious  light  "  pervaded 
the  vast  structure.  Half-a-dozen  mollahs  were  seated 
in  one  corner,  some  reading  and  others  reciting  pray- 
ers, all  in  an  audible  tone.  Our  guide  paid  no  atten- 
tion to  them.  I  was  disposed  to  keep  silence  when 
we  came  near  them.  Not  so  he,  for  in  the  very 
midst  of  them  he  spoke  in  the  highest  key. 

Within  the  citadel,  also,  is  "Joseph's"  well.  It  is 
a  square  hole,  1 5  feet  in  diameter  and  near  300  in 
depth.  A  spiral  inclined  plane  of  easy  grade 
descends  around  it  to  the  very  bottom,  a  thin  wall 
only  separating  between  it  and  the  well,  with  win- 
dows opening  into  the  well  at  considerable  inter- 
vals. Two  mules  are  kept  at  the  bottom,  working 
the  wheel  which  elevates  the  cool,  crystal  water  to 
the  top.  We  descended  about  half-way  and,  looking 
through  one  of  the  windows,  saw  the  bottom  and  the 
beautiful  water  there  distinctly. 

In  the  same  inclosure  is  the  palace  of  the  former 
Viceroy.  It  is  never  used  now,  but  the  carpets,  fur- 
niture, and  tapestry,  are  still  there,  and  the  house  is 
still  neatly  kept.  We  were  taken  through  every  part 
of  it.  It  seemed  very  magnificent  until  we  saw 
another  palace. 

In  the  citadel  we  saw  the  spot  where  the  Mama- 
lukes  were  massacred,  and  the  wall  over  which  Emin 
Bey  leaped  his  horse  to  escape  the  universal 
slaughter.     What  a  descent  to  make  on  horseback  ! 

But  the  great  Dosce  is  to  come  off  at  about  noon, 


SUEZ CAIRO.  305 

and  if  we  are  to  witness  it,  or  get  in  a  hundred  yards 
of  it,  it  is  high  time  we  were  on  the  ground.  The 
Dosee;  what  is  that? 

Well,  this  day,  March  25,  is  the  anniversary  of  the 
birth  of  Mohammed — and  of  his  death  as  well.  It  is, 
therefore,  an  uncommonly  holy  day — the  holiest  of 
all  days.  It  is  the  climax  and  close  of  a  season  of 
holydays  of  near  two  weeks.  Both  nights  that  we 
have  been  in  Cairo  there  has  been  an  uproar  of  pro- 
cessions, with  music  and  fire-works.  To-day  it  is  to 
culminate  in  the  Dosee. 

For  this  purpose  there  is  an  avenue  laid  off  of  per- 
haps a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length,  bounded  on  one 
side  by  a  line  of  tents,  one  belonging  to  the  Prince, 
and  the  others  to  various  distinguished  personages; 
and  on  the  other  by  a  line  of  standards  bearing  the 
national  colors.  This  avenue  is  kept  open  by  the 
police.  Outside  of  it,  in  all  directions,  spectators 
assemble.  Just  inside,  however,  of  the  line  of  flags, 
there  was  a  long  row  of  flashy  carriages,  occupied 
by  gorgeously  dressed  ladies.  They  were  ladies  of 
the  harem  and  of  families  related  to  the  Khedive 

When  we  arrived  on  the  ground  there  were  many 
thousand  spectators  already  assembled.  Three  or 
four  rows  of  carriages  were  already  in  place  outside 
of  the  line  of  flags.  Our  driver  understood  his  busi- 
ness, however,  and  got  us  to  a  very  good  place. 
\\  hen  we  looked  around  we  saw  a  number  of  lanre 
tents  scattered  in  various  directions.  Masses  of  peo- 
ple were  astir  in  every  direction,  jabbering  and  laugh- 
ing. Women  were  passing  around  everywhere,  sell- 
ing fruit  and  cakes,  and  boys  with  jugs  of  drinking 
water.     Beggars   abounded.     The    crowd   increased 


306  SUEZ — CAIRO. 

perpetually.  The  tops  of  neighboring  houses  were 
covered  with  people.  On  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd 
is  a  flying  dutchman.  Revolving  swings  are  in  full 
play.     It  is  a  lively  scene. 

But  the  Dosee  lingers.  We  have  been  here  over 
an  hour  and  nothing  has  happened.  Thanks  to  the 
breeze  and  the  clouds,  we  have  been  very  com- 
fortable. 

There  they  come  !  a  number  of  men  at  full  speed 
along  the  avenue,  bearing  gayly-colored  banners 
with  singular  devices  and  inscriptions  in  Arabic.  A 
multitude  follow,  all  running.  Still  they  come,  filling 
the  avenue.  These  are  the  principal  actors  and  their 
friends,  there  being  two  or  three  dozen  friends  to 
one  actor. 

An  arduous  moment  for  the  police — a  space  six 
feet  wide  and  one  or  two  hundred  yards  long  must 
be  opened  in  the  crowded  avenue.  In  this  space 
men  are  laid  down  flat  on  their  faces,  and  as  close  to 
each  other  as  they  can  be  placed.  I  could  not  learn 
how  many  there  were,  but  probably  several  hundred. 

Now,  up  the  avenue  come  other  men,  bearing  ban- 
ners and  running  directly  over  those  who  are  pros- 
trate, treading  on  their  backs. 

Then  comes  a  beautiful  white  Arab  horse,  of  good 
size,  led  by  two  men,  one  on  each  side.  On  the 
horse  is  seated  a  sheik — a  most  holy  man — the  most 
holy  man  in  Egypt — probably  in  the  world.  He  is 
asleep,  or  feigns  sleep,  and  one  man  walks  along  on 
each  side  to  support  him  in  the  saddle.  On  they 
come,  up  to  the  row  of  prostrate  men,  and  on  to 
them,  right  along  over  their  backs,  treading  on  them, 
from  one  end   of   the    row    to   the   other  rides  the 


SUEZ — CAIRO.  3O7 

holy  sheik,  with  his  two  supporters  walking  along, 
one  on  each  side. 

The  victims  of  this  horrible  piece  of  folly  are  vol- 
unteers. They  are  told  that  if  they  are  holy  they  will 
not  be  hurt,  and  if  they  are  under  any  guilt,  and  so 
become  maimed,  or  lose  their  lives,  their  sin  will  be 
atoned  by  the  great  merit  of  the  act,  and  all  the 
rewards  of  paradise  will  be  sure.  They  believe  every 
word  of  it.  Besides  all  that,  there  is  the  eclat  of  the 
occasion.  The  whole  city  will  come  together  to  see 
it.  The  beautiful  women  of  the  palace  will  look  on 
and  applaud  such  an  act  of  heroic  piety. 

Were  any  killed  ?  I  do  not  know.  It  is  hard  to  get 
at  the  truth.  Several  were  seen  carried  out  by  their 
friends  in  a  helpless  state.  The  American  Vice  Con- 
sul saw  one  whose  back  was  broken.  If  he  dies,  as  no 
doubt  he  must  die,  the  fact  will  never  be  published. 

At  night  there  was  a  great  display  of  fire-works 
and  dancing  dervishes,  and  I  know  not  what  else,  on 
the  same  ground. 

So  is  the  birthday  of  Mohammed  celebrated  in  the 
great  city  of  Cairo,  the  capital  of  Egypt ! 

It  is  both  repugnant  to  my  feelings  and  contrary 
to  my  practice  to  witness  barbarous  spectacles,  but 
as  I  am  seeing  the  world,  especially  in  its  religious 
aspects,  not  for  myself  only,  but  for  others,  I  con- 
cluded to  depart  from  my  custom.  For  the  same 
reason  I  have  devoted  so  much  space  to  it.  The 
Dosee  is  a  shocking  reality.  This  sheik  docs  ride  on 
horseback  over  the  backs  of  men  lying  close 
together  on  their  faces. 

Our  guide  to  the  Pyramids  informed  us  that  he 
himself  twice  volunteered — that  he  had  actually  twice 


308  SUEZ — CAIRO. 

been  tidden  over  by  the  holy  man  !  He  farther  assev- 
erated that  the  horse  had  stepped  on  his  back  and 
he  scarely  felt  it ! — the  horse  with  the  holy  sheik  on 
his  back  was  nothing  like  so  heavy  as  the  men  who 
trod  him ! 

In  the  afternoon  we  visited  the  museum.  It  con- 
tains nothing  but  Egyptian  antiquities.  Of  these 
there  is  a  great  number;  many  very  greatly  muti- 
lated, but  many  others  in  excellent  preservation.  It 
would  require  a  book  to  give  even  a  brief  account  of 
them.  Many  of  them  are  figures  and  inscriptions — 
some  in  relief  and  some  in  basso  relievo.  There  are 
some  also  in  wood  which,  though  not  decayed,  have 
an  indescribable  look  which  you  recognize  at  once 
as  being  the  effect  of  age.  I  saw  two  complete  stat- 
ues carved  in  wood.  These  have  been  pronounced 
by  antiquaries  to  be  among  the  oldest  objects  that 
have  been  found,  yet  strange  to  say,  they  are  among 
the  best  specimens  of  art  we  saw.  In  features, 
attitudes,  anatomy,  they  were  excellent.  Mummy 
cases,  statues,  religious  symbols,  and  jewelry  abound. 
We  saw  a  fragment  of  a  mirror  from  the  age  of  the 
Pharaohs.     As  a  reflector  it  was  perfect. 

We  next  saw  the  Kilometer — an  upright  shaft  with 
marks  on  it  to  indicate  the  stages  of  the  rise  in  the 
river.  From  that  we  visited  the  old  Mosque  of 
Amar.  It  consists  of  porticoes  around  an  open  court. 
The  porticoes  are  supported  by  numerous  pillars  of 
stone.  One  of  them  is  of  polished  marble  of  a  dark 
color.  Our  guide  pointed  out  to  us  a  white  vein  in 
the  marble,  and  on  one  side  a  place  where  the  stone 
was  considerably  flattened.  "  This  column,"  said 
he,  "  came  from  Mecca.     Mohammed  struck  it  with 


SUEZ — CAIRO.  3O9 

his  whip  ;  see  this  white  streak  ;  that  is  the  Prophet's 
whip-lash.  See  this  flat  place.  There  he  struck  it 
with  his  hand  and  said,  '  Go  to  Amar !'  It  flew 
through  the  air,  and  here  it  is." 

That  was  as  big  a  dose  of  tradition  as  we  could  take 
at  once ;  so  we  paid  our  backsheesh,  and  drove  to 
a  Coptic  convent  near  by.  After  a  whiff  of  fresh 
air  we  found  ouselves  ready  now  for  the  Christian 
traditions  that  awaited  us.  This  convent,  we  were 
told,  was  built  over  the  house  in  which  Joseph  and 
Mary  lived  with  the  "young  Child,"  during  the 
sojourn  in  Egypt.  It  is  a  very  large,  but  unsightly 
building.  We  were  first  taken  into  the  chapel,  where 
we  met  a  priest — a  very  fine-looking  man.  We  saw 
there  the  crucifix,  some  rude  paintings  on  the  walls, 
a  lighted  lamp,  kept  perpetually  burning,  and  some 
other  objects  of  no  special  intererst.  Then,  going 
out  into  the  narrow  street,  we  were  conducted  to 
the  other  end  of  the  building,  and  into  what  they 
assured  us  were  the  apartments  occupied  by  the 
"  Holy  Family."  Here  we  were  shown  the  figures 
of  several  of  the  apostles  carved  in  wood,  in  relief, 
on  the  wall.  They  were  quite  like  Methodist 
preachers  in  one  respect,  being  on  horseback — a 
decidedly  apostolic  conception.  Every  thing  was 
dark,  there  being  no  windows,  and  our  vision  was 
aided  only  by  a  feeble  tallow-candle,  so  that  my 
recollection  of  the  place  is  very  dim.  But  at  the 
end  of  a  narrow  passage,  in  a  recess  in  the  wall, 
they  pointed  out  a  baptismal  font  rudely  cut  in  a 
large  block  of  granite,  in  which  they  assured  us  the 
Infant  Jesus  was  baptized  ! 

Absurd    as  all    this    is,  it  must  be  admitted  that 


3  id  Memphis — sikkarAH — ghizeh. 

the  Mohammedan  traditions  cap  all  others.  Yet 
the  Copts  keep  up  in  the  race  pretty  well.  I  notice 
this  difference :  there  is  always  an  historical  start- 
ing point  for  the  Coptic  tradition,  while  the  Mus- 
sulman seems  to  take  a  special  pleasure  in  such  as 
are  the  pure  and  grotesque  creations  of  his  own 
fancy. 

But  in  the  convent  the  clamor  for  backsheesh  was, 
if  possible,  even  more  urgent  than  in  the  mosque. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

MEMPHIS SIKKARAH GHIZEH. 

T  CAIRO,  on  Tuesday,  we  did  two  days'  work 
in  one.  We  had  a  party  of  four,  and  em- 
ployed an  efficient  guide  ;  but  all  the  guides 
spoke  English  indifferently.  Taking  our  donkeys" 
on  the  train,  we  went  by  rail  to  Old  Memphis,  about 
eleven  miles.  There  we  mounted  and  rode  through 
the  ruins.  This  was  the  capital  of  Egypt  in  the  most 
ancient  times,  and  many  of  the  antiquities  now  seen 
in  the  Museum  were  taken  from  its  ruins.  But  there 
are  no  columns  nor  broken  arches  standing,  such  as 
make  the   ruins  of    Thebes  so   attractive.       Of  its 


MEMPHIS SIKKARAH GHIZEH.  3  1 1 

ancient  splendor  only  great  heaps  of  rubbish  remain, 
with  broken  bricks  and  fragments  of  pottery — except 
a  colossal  statue  of  Rameses,  otherwise  called  Sesos- 
tris.  There  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  identity  of  this 
statue,  as  the  name  is  on  the  belt.  Rameses  was  the 
greatest  of  all  the  Egyptian  monarchs,  either  of 
ancient  or  modern  times,  extending  his  conquests  far 
and  wide  in  Northern  Africa  and  Western  Asia. 
Memorials  of  his  power  are  found  in  distant  regions. 

This  statue  is  a  full-front  figure,  but  the  back  is  a 
mere  mass  of  unhewn  stone.  Long  ago  it  fell  pros- 
trate in  the  mud,  with  the  face  downward,  inclining  a 
little  to  one  side.  In  this  position  it  was  covered 
with  sand  ;  but  this  has  been  dug  away  so  as  to  give 
a  pretty  full  view  of  it.  It  is  in  a  good  state  of  pres- 
ervation, though  a  little  injured  at  one  or  two  points. 
The  contour  of  the  face  may  be  seen,  though  the 
great  nose  and  mouth  are  partly  in  the  sand.  The 
features  are  well  executed  ;  and  it  has  been  remarked 
that  all  the  statues  of  this  wonderful  man  give  in  the 
facial  lines  an  expression  of  extraordinary  power. 
The  old  Egyptians  were  evidently  of  a  race  not 
differing  in  any  material  way  from  the  present  inhab- 
itants of  the  country — and  the  general  type  of  the 
face  here,  as  in  India,  is  marvelously  like  that  of  the 
Caucasian.  Only  in  complexion  is  there  any  mate- 
rial difference,  and  in  many  instances  both  Copt  and 
Arab  are  comparatively  light. 

It  did  seem  a  pity  that  this  great  work  of  art — 
this  memorial  of  the  most  splendid  epoch  of  Egyp- 
tian history — should  be  permitted  to  remain  in  a 
position  so  humiliating.  The  Khedive  would  have 
done  himself  credit  if  he  had   abated  somewhat  the 


3  1 2  MEMPHIS — SIKKARAH — GHIZEH. 

splendor  of  his  palaces,  and  devoted  the  revenue 
thus  saved  to  rescuing  the  old  Rameses  from  such  a 
miserable  plight ;  but  he  appears  to  be  destitute  of 
all  such  generous  sentiment. 

The  size  of  this  great  piece  of  statuary  may  be 
imagined  from  the  fact  that  the  arm  is  eight  feet 
from  shoulder  to  elbow  by  our  tape-line. 

We  lingered  some  time  contemplating  this  pros- 
trate grandeur,  and  then  mounted  our  donkeys  and 
galloped  away.  Mounds,  mounds,  mounds — the 
dumb  remains  of  a  life  that  perished  thousands  of 
years  ago  !  What  an  area  they  cover !  But  here, 
penetrating  in  amongst  them,  wherever  there  is  a 
level  spot,  are  the  green  fields  and  the  living  fellahin. 
Some  of  them  are  planting  Indian  corn,  and  in  some 
fields  there  is  tobacco.  So  America  reappears  in 
Egypt.  But  on  we  cantered  toward  Sikkarah — five 
men  on  donkeys,  the  donkey-boys  following,  whip- 
ping up  the  little  brutes,  and  ready  for  any  service. 
My  donkey,  a  fat  little  fellow,  was  the  laziest  of  the 
lot,  every  now  and  then  falling  to  the  rear  ;  but  he  was 
in  wholesome  fear  of  the  goad,  and  whenever  the  end 
of  it  threatened  him  he  would  make  as  if  he  were 
going  to  kick  up,  and  then  gallop  off  for  some  time 
with  great  vigor.  I  felt  a  little  nervous  about  his 
motions  at  first,  but  soon  found  that  it  was  all  make- 
believe ',  and  felt  perfectly  at  my  ease.  It  was  capital ! 
— that  donkey-riding.  If  I  were  a  rich  man  I  should 
be  tempted  to  import  a  donkey  and  a  donkey-boy  to 
America  for  my  own  private  use. 

We  have  reached  the  edge  of  the  desert,  which 
swells  up  boldly,  but  not  precipitously,  to  an  eleva- 
tion of  perhaps  four  hundred  feet  from  the  level  of 


MEMPHIS  — SIKKARAH — GHIZEH.  3  I  3 

the  valley.  As  we  ascend  this  let  us  look  back  over 
the  magnificent  forest  of  palms  in  the  midst  of  which 
the  ruins  of  Memphis  lie — by  far  the  largest  forest 
we  have  seen  in  Egypt.  Leaving  the  valley  with  its 
palm-trees  and  ruins  behind,  we  press  on  over  the 
bare  and  undulating  sands  of  the  desert,  glaring 
under  the  unobstructed  rays  of  the  sun.  Before  us 
are  the  pyramids  of  Abusir  Sikkarah.  These  are  a 
cluster  of  small  pyramids,  only  one  of  them  being  of 
any  considerable  size.  The  largest  one  is  peculiar 
also  in  its  form.  There  is  not,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
others,  a  uniform  slope  from  base  to  apex,  but  a  suc- 
cession of  perpendicular  walls,  each,  as  you  ascend, 
rising  from  a  narrower  base  than  the  one  be-low  it. 
There  are  five  of  these  stories. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  these  pyramids  you  see 
numerous  excavations  in  the  sand,  at  the  bottom  of 
which,  even  as  you  ride  along,  you  see  the  masonry 
which  stands  at  the  opening  of  long  galleries  dug  into 
the  old  limestone-beds  that  underlie  the  sands,  which 
the  winds  of  ages  have  heaped  up.  These  rock- 
hewn  galleries  are  the  tombs  of  Memphis.  Here  not 
only  men  but  sacred  birds  and  animals  repose.  The 
very  sands  into  which  the  feet  of  our  donkeys  sink 
so  deeply  are  white  with  the  fragments  of  bones. 
Many  of  the  treasures  of  the  Museum  at  Cairo  were 
exhumed  here. 

But  our  time  is  limited,  and  we  cannot  linger  upon 
objects  of  common  interest.  We  are  on  our  way  to 
the  subterranean  galleries  of  the  Temple  of  Serapis. 
Here  we  are  at  the  entrance.  We  descend  by  a 
flight  of  stone  steps  from  the  surface  to  a  cavernous- 
looking  opening  below,   with    a    limestone    wall    on 


314  MEMPHIS — SIKKARAH — GHIZEH. 

either  hand.  Once  down,  we  light  several  candles, 
and,  proceeding  along  in  the  pitch  darkness,  we  see 
arched  recesses,  or  vaults,  made  at  right  angles  with 
the  line  of  the  gallery,  some  on  one  side,  and  some 
on  the  other,  with  considerable  intervals  between 
them.  These  recesses  are  perhaps  25  feet  square, 
the  floor  being  sunk  several  feet  below  the  floor  of 
the  gallery.  In  each  of  them  is  a  huge  granite  sar- 
cophagus, the  lower  part,  which  contained  the  body, 
being  a  monolith.  Upon  this  is  a  massive  lid  of  the 
same  material,  not  less  than  two  feet  thick.  I  made 
no  measurements,  but  the  main  gallery  must  be  three 
hundred  yards  long.  It  is  bifurcated  at  one  point, 
a  shorter  branch  running  in  for  some  distance. 
Neither  the  height  nor  width  of  the  gallery  is  great — 
not  over  15  feet,  I  should  think. 

Two  of  the  sarcophagi  are  more  carefully  finished 
than  the  rest.  One  of  these  we  examined  with  care. 
It  is  of  a  very  hard  black  stone,  highly  polished,  with 
straight  lines  of  chisel-.marks  running  down  the  side, 
say  three  inches  apart.  Near  the  top  there  is  a  hori- 
zontal border  running  around  it,  filled  with  rude  fig- 
ures in  outline,  some  of  birds,  some  of  a  character 
which  may  be  hieroglyphic.  But  all  the  figures  are 
a  mere  outline  of  chisel-marks,  stiff,  and  wanting  in 
any  thing  like  vital  expression.  The  lid  had  been 
slipped  along  two  or  three  feet,  leaving  an  opening 
at  one  end.  To  this  we  climbed  up  by  a  flight  of 
steps,  and  found  the  interior  cavity  to  be  not  less 
than  three,  perhaps  four  feet  deep,  and  eight  or  ten 
in  length. 

I  have  said  these  sarcophagi  are  of  granite.  Stan- 
ley says  they  are  of  black  marble.       I  am  not  adept 


MEMPHIS SIKKARAH — GIIIZEH.  3  I  5 

in  distinguishing  different  species  of  stone,  but  I 
think  I  cannot  be  mistaken  in  the  opinion  that  these 
are  of  granite,  and  not  marble.  Stanley's  descrip- 
tion, moreover,  had  raised  in  me  expectations  that 
were  disappointed.  So  far  as  mere  plain  massive- 
ness  constitutes  grandeur  they  are  grand  as  com- 
pared with  any  other  sarcophagi  I  have  ever  seen, 
but  magnificent  they  certainly  are  not.  But  when 
you  consider  that  these  gallaries  are  excavations  of 
such  vast  extent  in  a  solid  limestone  ridge,  and  that 
these  great  granite  blocks,  hewn  into  coffins,  must 
have  been  brought  down  the  Nile  from  the  cataracts, 
then  transported  from  the  river  several  miles  across 
the  level  valley,  then  again  up  the  inclined  plane  of 
the  desert  to  an  elevation  of  several  hundred  feet, 
then  out  across  the  sands  a  mile  or  two,  and  then 
lowered  into  these  galleries,  and  moved  along  each 
to  its  own  recess,  where  it  had  to  be  lowered  again 
to  the  floor  of  the  recess,  you  will  be  able  to  form 
some  idea  of  the  incredible  magnitude  of  the  work. 

You  would  know  the  names  of  the  wonderful  men 
— statesmen — conquerors — philosophers  who  repose 
here,  provided  at  such  cost  for  their  final  rest? 

Know  then  that  it  was  never  provided  for  men, 
but  for  Bulls — Apis,  the  sacred  Bull.  There  are  the 
carcasses  of  the  brute  gods  as  they  died,  one  after 
another.     A  brute  god  !     A  god  that  died  ! 

In  addition  to  all  this,  this  divine  beef  was  em- 
balmed, and  made  into  mummies. 

I  leav-  my  reader  to  his  own  reflections;  I  will 
not  attempt  to  do  the  moralizing  which  the  occasion 
calls  for. 

We  visited  one   other  tomb   at  Sikkarah — in  this 


316  MEMPHIS — SIKKARAH — GHIZEH. 

instance  the  tomb  of  a  man — some  prime  minister  of 
the  old,  old  times.  There  are  several  apartments, 
the  walls  covered  with  sculptured  and  colored  fig- 
ures, representing  boats  on  the  Nile,  and  various 
employments  of  servants,  especially  connected  with 
the  cuisine  of  the  departed.  Servants  carrying  pro- 
visions constitute  a  very  common  group  in  the 
funereal  sculpture  of  ancient  Egypt.  In  this  one 
there  is  nothing  to  distinguish  it  from  the  ordinary 
monuments  of  the  country. 

Some  ten  miles  of  desert  remained  to  be  traversed 
before  we  should  reach  the  great  pyramid  of  Cheops. 
The  performance  of  both  donkeys  and  donkey-boys 
interested  us  much.  I  never  saw  a  horse  or  mule 
that  would  have  kept  the  same  rate  of  speed  in  deep 
sand,  at  the  same  temperature,  for  a  half-hour,  with- 
out fagging.  But  these  little  creatures,  about  forty 
inches  in  height,  took  us  the  whole  distance  often  or 
eleven  miles  with  very  little  apparent  fatigue — at  a 
rate  of  more  than  five  miles  an  hour. 

Arrived  at  Ghizeh,  we  found  a  good  lunch,  which 
we  had  taken  the  precaution  to  send  out,  and  the 
need  of  which  we  now  felt  very  decidedly,  awaiting 
us. 

We  sat  on  the  steps  of  a  new  building  which  the 
Khedive  has  erected  to  entertain  distinguished  visi- 
tors, and  ate  our  lunch.  An  Arab  came  up  while  we 
were  in  the  act  of  leaving,  and  charged  us  step-rent. 
Hundreds  of  soecimens  of  ancient  coin,  and  little 
images  supposed  to  be  ancient,  but  probably  made 
last  week  in  Cairo,  with  pieces  of  alabaster  from  the 
temple  of  the  Sphinx,  and  many  such  like  things, 
were  urged  upon  us  with  a  clamor  and  persistency  - 


MEMPHIS  — SIKKARAH GHIZEH.  3  1  / 

which  tested  our  patience  to  the  utmost.  Offers  of 
service  were  equally  officious  and  urgent.  A  man 
would  hold  your  stirrup,  unasked,  when  you  mounted 
or  dismounted,  and  then  coolly  demand  a  fee.  If 
ever  you  speak  to  an  Arab,  or  even  look  at  him 
for  a  moment,  you  may  rest  assured  that  the  end  of 
the  affair  will  be  a  fee. 

The  first  thing  we  visited  there  was  the  temple  of 
the  Sphinx,  which  was  entirely  buried  by  the  sands 
until  within  late  years  the  interior  has  been  dug*  out; 
but  it  is  rapidly  filling  again.  It  consists  of  several 
passages  and  apartments,  and  is  remarkable  chiefly 
for  the  size  of  the  stones  of  which  it  is  built,  and 
for  a  fine  alabaster  which  appears  just  at  the  surface 
of  the  sand,  and  which  Arab  boys  break  off  to  sell.  I 
was  barbarian  enough  to  encourage  this  demolition 
so  far  as  to  purchase  a  few  fragments — one  for  Cen- 
tral College,  one  for  Vanderbilt,  and  one  for — my- 
self. 

This  structure  is  near  the  Sphinx,  and  no  doubt  its 
floors  are  on  the  same  level  with  the  feet  of  that 
wonderful  figure,  which  is  covered  up  to  the  very 
line  of  the  back  by  the  desert  sands.  Some  years 
ago  the  sand  was  removed  so  as  to  lay  the  greater 
part  of  this  colossal  monster  bare,  but  the  drifting 
sand  has  covered  it  again,  so  that  nothing  is  now 
exposed  but  the  head  and  neck,  and  the  upper  line 
of  the  body,  which  is  on  a  level  with  the  surface  of 
the  ground.  But  the  great  neck  and  head  rise  above 
the  sand  to  a  height  that  I  will  not  venture  to 
estimate.  It  was  evidently  cut  out  of  the  rock  where 
it  stands.  Probably  a  great  hill  of  limestone  was 
removed  from  around  it.     The  height  from  the  feet 


31 8  MEMPHIS — SIKKARAH — GHIZEH. 

up  is  140  feet.  The  head  and  neck  are  human;  the 
body  is  leonine.  The  back  is  giving  way  consider- 
ably at  one  point,  under  the  wear  of  time  and  the  ele- 
ments. Different  strata  appear  in  the  neck.  The  face 
has  been  greatly  mutilated,  evidently  not  by  time, 
but  by  human  force.  It  is  said  that  mill  stones  for 
the  little  Arab  hand-mills  have  been  taken  out  of  it; 
but  I  can  scarcely  credit  this.  The  nose  is  all  gone, 
and  with  it  the  lower  face  and  mouth.  Yet  the 
cheek  and  the  region  of  the  eyes  have  retained  some 
expression,  and  the  forehead  remains  intact. 

It  is  said  that  the  paved  way  to  the  pyramid  lay 
between  its  paws,  and  that  an  altar  stood  beneath  it 
from  which  incense  ascended  continually.  The 
Sphinx  overlooks  the  Valley  of  the  Nile,  but  stands 
above  the  valley  on  the  slope  of  the  desert  ridge  that 
skirts  it.  The  pyramids  are  still  higher  up  this 
ascent,  about  half  way,  perhaps,  toward  its  summit. 
This  elevation  of  the  base  of  the  pyramids  above  the 
level  Valley  of  the  Nile  I  had  overlooked  in  my  read- 
ing, and  was  not  quite  prepared  for  it. 

Perhaps  a  general  description  of  the  country  will 
aid  the  conception  of  the  exact  situation  of  these 
great  structures.  The  Nile,  from  the  first  cataract, 
which  is  at  the  northern  boundry  of  Egypt,  down- 
ward in  its  course  to  Cairo,  flows  through  a  narrow 
valley  of  flat  land  which  is  annually  overflowed  by 
it.  This  valley  is  of  varying  width,  averaging,  per- 
haps, ten  miles.  Along  the  edges  of  this  valley,  on 
both  sides,  rises  a  limestone  bluff  to  a  height,  say,  of 
400  feet  or  more.  As  you  ascend  the  river  toward 
the  cataract  this  bluff  is  sometimes  precipitous,  but 
toward    Cairo  it   is  generally  rounded   off  by  great 


MEMPHIS — SIKKARAH — GHIZEH.  319 

sand-heaps,  with  here  and  there  a  precipitous  mass 
of  rock.  From  the  summit  of  this  bluff  the  desert 
stretches  off  on  both  sides  in  rocky  and  sandy  undu- 
lations, naked  and  barren,  as  I  have  described.  The 
desert  sets  in  at  the  edge  of  the  Nile  overflow,  so  that 
the  ascent  of  the  bluff  is  desert. 

At  Cairo  the  bluffs  cease  or  recede,  the  Nile 
divides  itself  into  two  branches  which  separate  more 
and  more  from  each  other  until  they  reach  the  sea, 
and  the  overflowed  land  widens  out  more  and  more, 
until,  at  the  lower  extremity,  on  the  Mediterranean, 
it  is  near  1 50  miles  wide.  This  is  the  Delta.  Begin- 
ning at  Cairo  it  spreads  out  like  a  half-opened  fan. 

Just  above  the  apex  of  the  Delta,  on  a  bench  of 
the  desert,  half  way  up  to  the  point  of  its  highest 
elevation,  stand  the  three  celebrated  pyramids  of 
Ghizeh — that  of  Cheops,  that  of  Chephrem,  and 
another  much  smaller.  The  two  former  are  of  about 
the  same  altitude,  though  Cheops  is  the  more  cele- 
brated, having  a  greater  diameter  at  the  base.  They 
are  of  stone  throughout.  Pictures  of  them  give  the 
impression  of  a  smooth  surface,  but  this  is  a  mistake. 
Every  layer  of  stone  is  drawn  in  a  little  from  the  one 
below  it,  making  successive  benches  of  about  two 
feet  wide  and  two  and  a  half  or  three  feet  high. 

There  was  another  layer  of  stone  on  each  bench^ 
with  the  corners  beveled  off  after  they  were  laid  in 
their  places  so  as  to  bring  them  to  the  angle  of  eleva- 
tion of  the  whole  structure,  thus  making  a  smooth 
surface  from  top  to  bottom.  But  the  Mohammedans 
made  a  quarry  of  the  pyramids.  The  Caliphs  took 
off  the  outer  layer  to  build  the  citadel.  Other  pub- 
lic buildings — mosques  especially — were  built  of  the 


320  MEMPHIS — SIKKARAii — GIltZEH. 

same  material.  But  after  furnishing  such  a  vast 
amount  of  building  material,  these  monster  piles  of 
masonry  remain  apparently  undiminished.  Cheops 
has  lost  20  or  30  feet  from  his  apex  and  his  casing, 
the  smaller  one  is  stripped  of  its  casing,  and  Cheph- 
rein  of  only  a  part  of  its  casing;  over  100  feet  of 
this,  at  the  summit,  remaining. 

The  casing  of  the  two  larger  ones  was  not  of  gran- 
ite, but  of  limestone.  That  of  the  smaller  one  is 
believed  to  have  been  of  the  red  granite  from  the 
cataracts,  and  that  highly  polished. 

We  ascended  Cheops  with  the  aid  of  four  Arabs, 
paying  five  francs  to  the  sheik,  and  then  as  much 
backsheesh  to  each  attendant  as  he  might  be  able  to 
extort.  Half-way  up  they  begin  their  arts,  and 
keep  plying  you  till  all  is  over.  The  ascent  is  some- 
what arduous,  the  more  on  account  of  the  speed  at 
which  you  are  hurried  along  by  your  attendants. 
One  holds  each  hand,  going  before  you,  and  others 
lift  you  from  below.  If  I  had  the  job  to  do  over,  I 
would  pay  the  Arabs  to  let  me  do  it  alone.  Taking 
half  an  hour  for  it,  and  going  slowly,  it  might  be 
accomplished  without  great  fatigue. 

The  most  arduous  undertaking  is  the  visit  to  the 
interior.  You  go  downward,  first,  in  a  narrow  pas- 
sage, then,  dropping  on  all-fours,  pass  with  some 
difficulty  under  the  rocks,  and  commence  the 
arduous  ascent  on  an  inclined  plane.  After  a  time 
you  come  to  a  place  that  seems  impracticable,  but 
your  Arabs  spring  up  with  the  agility  of  cats,  seize 
your  hands,  and,  giving  you  an  assuring  word,  lift 
you  over.  Up,  up  again,  until  you  come  to  a  plat- 
form with  a  recess   to   the  right  in  which  there  is  a 


MEMPHIS — SIKKARAH — GHIZEH.  32 1 

very  small  well  100  feet  deep.  ■  One  of  your  attend- 
ants will  propose  to  go  to  the  bottom  with  a  lighted 
candle  in  his  hand,  which  he  will  do  if  you  will  stop 
to  see  it,  but  he  will  make  it  the  ground  of  an 
unlimited  demand  for  backsheesh.  To  the  left  is  a 
passage  leading  to  the  chamber  of  the  queen.^  To 
this  H.  penetrated — I  did  not.  My  rascally  guides 
passed  it  without  showing  it  to  me.  At  last,  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  pyramid,  half-way  through,  and 
about  one-third  of  the  way  up,  we  stand  in  the  cham- 
ber of  the  king.  Here  is  the  black  granite  sarcopha- 
gus. The  mummy  is  gone,  and  has  been  for  a  thou- 
sand years  at  least.  The  lid  is  gone,  and  the  edges 
have  lost  many  a  fragment,  broken  off,  no  doubt,  by 
vandal  visitors,  and  carried  away  as  memorials  of  the 
place. 

The  walls  of  this  chamber  are  all  of  massive  blocks 
of  black  granite — the  same  material,  precisely,  as  the 
sarcopliagi  of  the  bulls  in  the  caverns  of  Serapis. 
So  it  seemed  to  me,  and  I  think  I  cannot  be  mis- 
taken. It  is  extremely  hard,  perfectly  polished,  and 
bears  inscriptions  that  I  know  nothing  about.  This 
chamber  is  said  to  be  37  feet  by  17,  with  a  height  of 
20  feet. 

Let  us  now  return  to  the  outside.  Passing  round 
Chephrem  we  saw  where  the  limestone  hill  had  been 
cut  down  to  get  a  level  area  for  its  base.  Thus  a 
perpendicular  face  had  been  left  in  the  rock.  In  this, 
tombs  had  been  cut,  some  of  which  we  entered. 
They  are  simply  square,  or  nearly  square,  excava- 
tions in  the  side  of  the  hill,  with  an  entrance  rather 
low,  but  of  good  size. 

We  returned  to  Cairo  by  a  carriage  along  a  beau- 


322  MEMPHIS- — SIKKARAH — GHIZEtt. 

tiful  avenue  of  trees — acacias,  I  believe — a  distance 
of  only  six  miles.  The  sun  was  low,  the  evening  air 
was  delicious,  and  we  felt  that  we  had  done  a  faith- 
ful day's  work. 

Wednesday  we  visited  one  of  the  palaces  of  the 
Khedive,  with  the  grounds,  the  American  Consul 
having  courteously  procured  us  a  permit.  The 
grounds  are  beautiful,  with  abundant  shrubbery  and 
canals  and  fountains,  with  rustic  bridges,  rockeries, 
and  pavilions.  The  place  is  new  and  gorgeous,  with 
porticoes,  columns,  variegated  marble  pavements, 
furniture  overlaid  with  gold,  table  tops  of  the  finest 
marble  in  the  richest  mosaic,  upholstered  walls, 
splendid  mirrors,  and  I  know  not  what  all.  There 
are,  in  fact,  two  of  these  palaces  in  the  same  grounds, 
one  used,  I  suppose,  as  a  sort  of  summer  house. 

In  the  principal  one,  at  the  head  of  the  first  flight 
of  stairs,  is  a  column  of  white  marble  about  six  feet 
high.  On  the  top  of  it  is  a  winged,  laughing,  angel, 
dropping  a  twisted  wire  from  his  hand.  On  the  face 
of  the  column,  below,  is  a  human  head  and  face. 
Circling  over  this  is  the  legend,  "  Etipuit  ccelo  fulmen, 
1750."  The  face  is  a  good  likeness  of  Benjamin 
Franklin. 

Eleven  miles  from  Cairo,  down  in  the  Delta,  are 
the  ruins  of  Heliopoiis,  the  ancient  Onv  Here  was 
the  temple  of  the  sun  in  which  Joseph's  father-in- 
low,  the  "  Priest  of  On,"  officiated.  In  this  immedi- 
ate vicinity  was  probably  the  "land  of  Goshen." 
Here  were  those  wonderful  obelisks,  now  all  gone 
but  one — gone  to  Rome,  to  Alexandria,  to  Paris. 
One  now  prostrate  in  the  sand  of  Alexandria  has 
been  given  to  the  English,  and,  if  they  think  it  worth 


MEMPHIS SIKKARAH GIIIZEH.  323 

while,  will  be  removed  to  London.  One  stands 
where  it  was  first  'erected,  perhaps  at  the  very- 
entrance  of  the  Temple  of  the  Sun.  It  looked  down 
on  the  marriage  of  Joseph.  It  was  probably  the 
oldest  of  these  wonderful  granite  monoliths,  and  has 
been  standing  here  4,000  years. 

Our  guide-book  discouraged  a  visit  here,  but  I 
would  not  have  left  Egypt  without  seeing  this  monu- 
ment of  the  earliest  Egyptian  art  for  any  reasonable 
consideration.  We  took  the  ride  late  in  the  after- 
noon, and  a  delightful  ride  it  was,  through  avenues 
of  tamarisks  and  acacias,  along  a  causeway  -elevated 
above  the  overflow.  On  either  hand  were  the  green 
wheat-fields ;  and  such  wheat !  It  rivals  the  finest 
fields  of  California. 

The  ruins  of  Heliopolis  are  a  mere  quadrangular 
ridge  of  no  great  area — and  the  obelisk.  There  it 
stands  in  solitary  grandeur.  It  is  a'  granite  monolith 
70  feet  high,  on  a  pedestal  6  feet  high,  but  25  feet  of 
it  are  now  under  ground.  On  three  sides  there  are 
numerous  figures  in  basso  relievo.  On  one  side  I 
counted  nine  birds,  intended,  probably,  for  hawks. 
There  are  two  knives,  an  ax,  and  perhaps  other 
instruments.  One  figure,  I  thought,  was  intended 
for  a  monkey,  and  one  was  certainly  a  snake.  In 
these  indentations  a  sort  of  insect  has  made  its  nest 
of  mud.  Indeed,  on  one  side,  the  shaft  is  almost 
covered  with  this  insect-work.  The  column  is 
pointed  at  the  top,  and  is  of  the  same  style  as  the 
one  at  Alexandria  which  is  called  Cleopatra's  Needle. 
No  doubt  this  latter,  as  well  as  those  at  Rome  and 
Paris,  were  removed  from  this  very  place. 

Near  by  is  the  traditional  fig-tree  under  which  it  is 


324  MEMPHIS — SIKKARAH — GHIZEH. 

said   the  .holy   family    rested   when  they  arrived  in 
Egypt. 

We  had  had  a  busy  time  in  Cairo,  and  on  Thurs- 
day morning  left  for  Alexandria.  Here  we  saw 
Cleopatra's  Needle,  and  the  twin  shaft  lying  near  it 
in  the  sand,  the  property  of  the  British  Government. 
The  Needle  is  more  lavishly  decorated  with  sculp- 
ture than  its  mate  at  Heliopolis.  We  went  also  to 
see  the  catacombs,  but  were  disappointed  to  find 
them  of  such  small  extent.  We  had  reason  after- 
ward to  believe  that  our  dragoman  had  fooled  us, 
not  taking  us  to  the  most  extensive  ones.  But  we 
saw  the  real  Pompey's  Pillar,  a  wonderful  granite 
obelisk.  It  differs  from  that  at  Heliopolis  in  two 
respects :  It  :s  round,  while  that  is  square ;  it  is 
crowned  with  an  expanding  capital,  while  that  is 
pointed. 

On  Friday  morning,  at  9  o'clock,  we  set  sail  in  the 
steamer  Apollo,  of  the  Austrian  Lloyd  line,  for 
Jaffa.  As  we  steamed  away  we  had  a  fine  view  of 
the  city.  An  unfinished  and  abandoned  palace  on 
the  sands  of  the  harbor  appeared  on  one  side,  and 
the  new  palace  on  the  other.  Long  lines  of  break- 
water lay  above  the  surface.  Pompey's  Pillar  loomed 
up  in  full  view.  As  we  turned  a  point,  Cleopatra's 
Needle  came  in  sight.  Long  lines  of  windmills, 
swinging  their  gigantic  arms  lazily  around,  lined  the 
coast.  At  last  all  gradually  faded  in  the  distance, 
and  floated  out  of  sight. 

Saturday  morning  found  us  at  Port  Said,  the  Med- 
iterranean mouth  of  the  canal.  It  is  a  new  place, 
and  owes  its  existence  to  the  canal.  It  can  never  be 
a  place  of  any  great  importance.     It  is  built  on  the 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM.  325 

sand  thrown  up  in  digging  the  canal.  There  is  noth- 
ing of  interest  to  be  seen,  unless  it  be  a  palatial  hotel 
built  by  the  Prince  of  Holland.  Here  we  lay  all 
day,  and  at  five  o'clock  sailed  again  to  awake  at  Jaffa 
in  the  morning.  So  we  are  taking  our  first  sail  on 
the  great  Mediterranean  Sea. 

Can  it  be  possible  that  we  shall  sleep  at  Jerusalem 
to-morrow  night?  So  Dr.  DeHass,  the  American 
Consul  at  Jerusalem,  who  got  on  board  at  Port  Said, 
assures  us. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

FROM    JAFFA    TO  JERUSALEM. 

^~YUNDAY  morning,  April  I,  we  awoke  on  the 
^^  steamer  Apollo,  in  sight  of  the  mountains  of 
/  Judea,  which  swell  up  boldly  to  the  height  of 
3,000  feet.  But  we  were  yet  a  long  way  out  at  sea, 
and  could  see  nothing  but  the  outline  of  the  ridge. 
As  we  approached  we  could  see  that  a  considerable 
extent  of  level  country  intervened  between  the  shore 
and  the  mountains.  The  southern  part  of  this  low 
region  was  the  Plain  of  Philistia — farther  north  it 
was  the  Plain  of  Sharon. 

As  we  neared  the  shore  we  could  discern  a  line  of 


326  FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM. 

sand-hills,  very  low,  lying  along  the  coast-line,  just 
above  the  water.  This  sand-bank  was  broken  at  one, 
and  only  one  point,  by  a  hill  rising  somewhat  boldly 
but  to  no  great  height.  On  this  hill,  and  covering  a 
considerable  part  of  it — especially  the  northern  end 
— is  the  town  of  Jaffa  (joppa),  interesting  to  us  for 
several  reasons.  It  was  to  Joppa  that  Hiram  sent 
the  timber  he  had  prepared  in  Mount  Lebanon  for 
the  Temple,  in  floats ;  here  it  was  drawn  out  of  the 
water,  and  then,  by  some  means,  transported  to  Jeru- 
salem, a  distance  of  about  thirty-six  miles.  It  was 
here  that  Dorcas  lived  and  died — the  good  Dorcas, 
who  set  that  example  of  active  beneficence  in  the 
Church  which  has  since  been  followed  by  so  many 
godly  women.  But,  above  all,  here  it  was  that  the 
gospel  took  its  new  departure  for  the  conquest  of  the 
world.  Here,  on  the  housetop,  by  the  side  of  the 
sea,  Peter  was  prepared  for  his  call  to  the  Gentile, 
Cornelius,  at  Cesarea.  From  this  moment  the  word 
of  life  was  preached  to  men  of  all  nations. 

At  9:30  in  the  morning  we  landed  at  a  flight  of 
steps  in  the  sea-wall,  within  a  few  rods  of  the  site  of 
the  old  tan-yard  of  Simon.  This  site  is  identified 
beyond  any  doubt.  It  is  the  only  place  by  the  "  sea- 
side "  where  there  is  water  for  the  uses  of  a  ta'nnery. 
The  removal  of  some  old  stone-works  recently  has 
laid  bare  the  very  vats  in  which  the  tanning  was 
done.  The  first  thing  we  did,  before  we  went  to  our 
hotel,  we  visited  this  place.  There  we  saw  the  foun- 
tain of  living  water,  and  ascended  to  the  roof  of  the 
house  which  stands,  if  not  on  the  very  spot  occupied 
by  that  of  Simon  the  tanner,  at  least  very  near  it. 
There  we  stood  where  Peter  prayed  and  fell  into  a 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM.  32/ 

trance,  and  looked  up  into  those  very  heavens  from 
which  he  saw  the  great  sheet  let  down.  Before  us 
was  the  "  Great  Sea,"  stretching  away  to  the  West, 
the  highway  by  which  the  gospel  was  to  be  carried 
to  the  distant  nations  to  whom  God  was  at  that 
moment  preparing  to  send  it.  It  was  worth  a  voyage 
around  the  world  to  stand  a  moment  on  the  flat  roof 
of  that  house — yet  we  had  to  pay  backsheesh  to  a 
Mussulman  for  the  privilege. 

Our  hotel  was  in  the  "  colony."  This  is  a  settle- 
ment of  German  Christians  at  Jaffa.  There  are  two 
or  three  of  these  settlements  of  Germans  who  look 
for  the  personal  coming  of  Christ  to  reign  a  thousand 
years  on  earth,  fixing  the  capital  of  his  millennial 
reign  in  Jerusalem.  They  were  preceded  by  a  com- 
pany of  Americans,  whose  leader  proved  to  be 
worthless,  and  whose  plans  were  so  poorly  laid  that 
they  came  to  the  very  door  of  starvation.  Many  of 
them  got  home  on  charity,  and  their  enterprise  came 
to  nothing.  But  these  Germans,  if  they  are  actuated 
by  a  fanatical  belief,  yet  show  the  genuine  German 
good  sense  and  thrift.  They  have  a  good  hotel 
which,  I  doubt  not,  they  make  profitable.  They 
also  run  a  line  of  hacks  from  Jaffa  to  Jerusalem,  over 
the  macadamized  road  which  has  been  made  within 
the  last  five  or  six  years.  Before  that  all  travel  was 
done  on  horses,  mules,  or  camels,  as  it  still  is  every- 
where else  in  Palestine ;  for  this  is  the  only  road 
practicable  for  wheeled  vehicles  anywhere  in  the 
country. 

Near  the  hotel  is  the  school  house  of  Miss  Bald- 
win, an  American  lady,  a  native  of  Virginia,  who  had 
a  school  for  many  years    at   Athens,  but  has  been 


328  FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM. 


J 


now  for  several  years  here.  I  think  she  makes  her 
school  self-supporting.  She  is  a  member  of  the 
Episcopal  Church,  and  does  her  work  in  a  missionary 
spirit.  There  is  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of 
England  here  who  has  a  service  every  Sunday  after- 
noon in  her  school  room.  By  his  request  I  preached 
for  him.  Can  you  doubt  that  the  text  was  in  the 
tenth  chapter  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  ? 

There  is  another  Christian  lady  who  has  a  school 
here — Miss  Arnot,  from  England.  Having  some 
means,  she  came  here,  bought  land,  and  built  a 
spacious  and  substantial  stone  house,  in  which  she 
carries  on  a  school  for  girls — Miss  Baldwin's  being  for 
boys. 

Four  of  us  got  a  carriage,  and  prepared  for  an  early 
start  on  Monday  for  Jerusalem.  At  six  o'clock  we 
were  on  the  road.  For  a  mile  or  more  we  pass  over  the 
slightly  elevated  sandy  strip  that  skirts  the  sea.  On 
each  side  of  the  road  over  this  strip  there  are  hedges 
of  gigantic  prickly  pear,  behind  which  are  the  won- 
derful orange  groves  of  Jaffa.  Here  are  produced 
the  largest  oranges,  by  far,  that  I  ever  saw.  We 
have  one  in  our  room  now  which  H.  gathered  in  the 
grove  of  a  hospitable  native,  and  which  measures 
sixteen  inches  in  circumference  by  the  tape-line. 
Soon  we  leave  hedges  and  orange  groves  behind, 
and  are  fairly  out  upon  the  Plain  of  Sharon.  Where 
we  enter  it  is  perfectly  level,  and  there  are  level 
areas  here  and  there  throughout  its  extent- ;  but  for 
the  most  part  it  is  gently  undulating,  becoming  more 
and  more  uneven  as  you  approach  the  mountains, 
until,  at  the  valley  of  Ajalon,  at  the  base  of  the  great 
Judean  range,  the  valley  ridges  are  themselves  bald 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM.  32^ 

and  rocky.  There  are  many  fields  of  wheat  in  the 
valley  now  just  well-headed.  The  crop  is  a  very  good 
one,  though  by  no  means  equal  to  that  of  the  Nile 
Valley.  We  have  seen  a  little  Indian  corn.  Many 
fields  are  just  now  under  the  plow  for  the  water- 
melon, which,  we  are  told,  is  exceptionally  fine  here, 
and  is  raised  in  great  quantities. 

The  first  place  of  note  which  we  passed  was  the 
traditional  Tomb  of  Dorcas.  Well  out  in  the  plain, 
perhaps  five  miles  from  Jaffa,  is  the  "  Experimental 
Farm,"  carried  on  by  Jews,  who  here  instruct  young 
men  in  the  most  approved  modes  of  farming.  It  is 
hoped  that  this  institution  will  greatly  improve  the 
agriculture  of  this  country.  The  Plain  of  Sharon, 
like  the  valley  of  the  Ganges,  has  been  in  constant 
cultivation  for  4,000  years,  without  manure  and  with- 
out rest.  What  wonderful  resources  there  must  be  in 
the  soil !  It  is  extremely  yellow — a  Missouri  farmer 
would  say,  "  It  is  like  an  ash-bank  " — so  that  the 
rude  native  plow  prepares  it  very  well.  Soon  we 
see  a  tower,  off  to  our  left,  which  marks  the  site  of 
Lydda,  which  "was  nigh  to  Joppa,"  to  which  Peter 
came  when  he  was  passing  "  throughout  all  quarters  " 
— where  he  healed  the  paralytic  Eneas,  "  which  had 
kept  his  bed  eight  years,"  and  from  whence  he  was 
called  by  "  the  saints'  to  Joppa,  where  the  good 
Dorcas  died.  It  is  about  twelve  miles  from  Joppa. 
About  the  same  distance  out  is  Ramleh,  immediately 
on  our  road.  Here  is  a  very  nice  hotel,  kept  by  one 
of  the  Germans  of  the  "  Temple  " — for  that  is  the 
name  the  German  colonists  have  given  their  Associa- 
tion. Ramleh  is  a  town  of  3,000  inhabitants.  We 
rested  our  horses  here  an  hour,  and  strolled  through 


33°  FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM. 

the  city,  where  we  saw  an  old  church  built  by  the 
Crusaders,  since  turned  into  a  mosque.  The  bazaar 
presented  a  lively  scene.  Some  shops  had  pretty 
good  stocks,  and,  upon  the  whole,  there  was  as  much 
appearance  of  thrift  as  is  usually  seen  in  Oriental 
villages.  Here,  as  in  Jaffa,  the  houses  are  all  of 
stone,  giving  the  place  a  very  solid  but  somewhat 
gloomy  appearance.  There  is  the  inevitable  "tradi- 
tion '  here,  for  they  claim  that  this  is  the  very 
Arimatlica  where  "Joseph  of  Arimathea  "  was  born. 
Some  intelligent  men  are  disposed  to  regard  this 
tradition  with  favor,  but  others  affirm  that  it  was  a 
fabrication  of  the  13th  century.  There  is  a  tower 
here  which  is  a  very  prominent  object,  but  the 
mosque  in  connection  with  which  it  was  built  has 
disappeared.  The  summit  of  it  commands  a  large 
and  fine  landscape. 

Pharaoh  took  Gezer  from  the  Philistines,  and  pre- 
sented it  to  his  daughter,  the  wife  of  Solomon. 
There  are  extensive  ruins  here,  which  are  partly  in 
sight  from  our  road,  but  too  far  away  for  us  to  take 
time  to  visit  them.  Near  the  road  on  the  left  side  is 
the  village  of  Amwas,  mentioned  in  the  Apocrypha, 
I.  Mace.  iii.  40. 

The  road  lies  very  near  the  boundary  between  the 
tribe  of  Dan  and  Philistia.  Not  very  far  to  our 
right  Samson  played  his  part,  at  once  so  noble  and 
so  ignoble.  Ekron  is  only  four  or  five  miles  from 
Ramleh. 

Twenty  miles  out  we  reached  the  Valley  of  Ajalon. 
Up  to  the  north-east,  a  little  way,  are  Bethhoron  and 
Gihon.  Here  the  five  kings,  from  the  southern 
Regions  about   Hebron  were   in  camp,  when  Joshua 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM.  33  t 

"  ascended  from  Gilgal,  he  and  all  the  people  of  war 
with  him,  and  all  the  mighty  men  of  valor,"  and 
"  came  upon  them  suddenly,  and  went  up  from  Gilgal 
all  night."  He  "slew  them  with  a  great  slaughter 
at  Gihon,  and  chased  them  along  the  way  that  goeth 
up  to  Bethhoron."  To  add  to  their  dismay,  God 
smote  them  with  stones  from  heaven,  so  that  they 
were  more  who  perished  by  the  hailstones  than  by 
the  sword. 

But  it  was  a  crisis  in  the  conquest  of  the  country, 
and  it  was  necessary  that  this  victory  should  be 
decisive.  Up  to  this  time  the  Israelites  had  secured 
only  a  precarious  footing  in  the  central  and  eastern 
portions  of  the  country.  This  victory  would  be  fruit- 
less unless  it  opened  the  south,  and  the  Plain  of 
Sharon,  to  them.  Then  "  Joshua  spake  to  the  Lord," 
and  God  gave  him  power  over  the  planetary  system, 
so  that  "  he  said,  in  the  sight  of  Israel,  Sun,  stand 
thou  still  upon  Gibeon,  and  thou,  Moon,  in  the  Valley 
of  Ajalon."  Here  on  the  spot  one  could  see  the  rela- 
tive positions  of  the  sun  and  moon. 

Through  this  long  day,  that  seemed  as  if  it  would 
never  close,  the  people  pursued  their  enemies,  and  at 
last  captured  and  slew  the  five  "  kings  of  the  Amo- 
rites."  This  gave  them  the  entire  southern  part  of 
Palestine,  except  Philistia.  To  all  human  appear- 
ance it  seems  that  their  destiny  hung  upon  a  complete 
overthrow  and  extermination  of  their  enemies  in  that 
battle. 

Passing  up  out  of  the  Valley  of  Ajalon  we  enter  a 
narrow  mountain  gorge,  and  continue  in  it  for  some 
miles,  passing  the  castle  of  the  Abu  Gosh,  a  sheik, 
who,  in  the  early  part  of  this  century,  exacted  heavy 


^  1  o 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM. 


toll  of  all  travelers,  and  especially  pilgrims,  on 
their  way  to  Jerusalem.  For  many  years  he  and  his 
tribe  were  a  terror  to  the  country.  His  little  stone 
castle  is  situated  at  a  point  where  the  gorge  through 
which  the  road  passes  is  so  narrow  that  the  traveler, 
once  under  the  range  of  his  guns,  could  find  no  way 
of  escape. 

As  we  ascended  the  mountain  we  saw  the  Pales- 
tine oak,  the  terebinth,  the  tamarisk,  and  the  carob- 
tree.  This  latter  bears  a  long  seed-pod,  the  seed 
being  much  like  a  bean.  This  bean  is  eaten  by  the 
people.  We  saw  large  quantities  of  it  in  the  market 
at  Jaffa.  It  is  supposed  that  it  was  the  pod  of  this 
tree  that  our  Lord  referred  to  in  the  parable  of  the 
prodigal  son  as  the  "husks  which  the  swine  did  eat." 

After  a  toilsome  ascent  we  reached  the  summit  of 
the  range,  from  which  the  Plain  of  Sharon,  and  of 
Philistia,  come  into  full  view,  and  even  the  sand-bed 
on  the  shore,  and  Jaffa,  and  the  waters  of  the  Medi- 
terranean sea  beyond. 

Still  farther  on  we  came  to  what  was  in  the  oldest 
times  called  Kirjath-Baal,  and  later  Kirjath-Jearim. 
This  is  believed  to  be  the  Emmaus  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, and  therefore  has  a  very  special  interest  for 
Christians. 

At  about  this  point  the  Ncby  Samwil  appears — 
Mount  Samuel,  as  we  would  call  it.  There  is  a  tomb 
on  the  summit  of  it,  which  is  called  the  tomb  of 
Samuel.  It  is  believed  to  be  the  site  of  the  ancient 
Mizpeh,  and  the  principal  seat  of  Authority  when 
Samuel  judged  Israel.  It  is  said  to  be  the  most  ele- 
vated summit  in  all  this  range  of  mountains,  and  is  in 
sight  pretty  much  all  the  time  from  the   neighbor- 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM.  333 

hood  of  Emmaus  until  we   are  within   a   mile  of  the 
city. 

Some  distance  farther  on,  in  a  very  pretty  valley, 
is  the  convent  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  a  mile  or  so  to 
the  right  of  the  road.  It  is  on  the  traditional  birth- 
place of  John  the  Baptist,  in  the  "  hill  country  of 
Judea."  There  is  no  doubt  of  its  being  in  Judea, 
and  a  "  hill  country!'  This  latter  is  very  plain  to  be 
seen.  But  the  tradition  as  to  the  exact  birthplace  of 
the  Baptist  is  altogether  arbitrary.  One  might  as 
well  undertake  to  find  the  grave  of  Moses  as  the 
birthplace  of  John. 

There  is  another  tradition  which  locates  the  death 
of  Goliath  in  this  same  little  valley,  and  this  is  prob- 
ably true.  At  any  rate,  the  dry  brook  which  runs 
through  it  has  millions  of  stones  in  its  bed,  just  the 
size  for  the  sling,  and  I  myself  picked  up  three  or 
four  smooth  ones,  just  the  sort  to  kill  a  giant  with. 
One  that  I  got  I  imagine  is  the  exact  fellow  of  that 
one  which  brought  down  the  Philistine  braggart  who 
had  "  defied  the  armies  of  the  living  God." 

We  were  now  within  four  miles  of  Jerusalem,  the 
city  of  the  Great  King.  It  seemed  to  us  a  strange 
thing  to  be  here.  H.  remarked  upon  the  fact  that 
we  were  approaching  the  city  in  a  pleasant  carriage, 
while  our  Lord  made  his  journeys  to  it  on  foot.  A 
strange  feeling  took  possession  of  me — a  sense  of 
my  unspeakable  unworthiness.  I  did  indeed  "blush 
in  all  things  to  abound— the  servant  above  his  Lord." 

The  approach  to  the  city  from  this  side  gives  no 
view  of  it  beforehand.  You  see  nothing  within  the 
walls,  scarcely,  until  you  enter.  But  outside  of  the 
walls  are  many  new  buildings  of  an  excellent  class, 


334  FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM. 

They  have  been  erected  within  a  few  years  by  Jews 
who  have  come  here  from  Europe.   H.  and  I  chose  to 
enter  the  city  only  in  each  other's  company,  and  on 
foot.     We  approached  slowly,  and,   I  believe,  both 
of  us  in  the  spirit  of  prayer.     Even  after  we  passed 
through  the  gate  of  the  lofty  wall  we  could  see  noth- 
ing but  the   nearest  buildings,  for  on  this  side  we 
were  on   the  highest  ground  in  the   city.     Yet  the 
first   thing   we    saw,   just  within   the  gate,   was   the 
Tower  of  David,  no  doubt  the  oldest  building  here. 
One  part  of  it  is  of  the  peculiar  beveled  stone  which 
was  the  work  of  the  old  Phoenicians.     This  part  of 
the  Tower — the  old  citadel — is   believed   by  intelli- 
gent archaeologists  to  date   from   the   reign  of  Solo- 
mon.    It  is  known  that  Titus  spared  it  when  he  took 
the    city.     Near    this    is    the    Mediterranean    Hotel, 
where  we  lodged.     So  we  are  living  on  Mount  Zion ! 
This  is  the  very  hill  which  the  Jebusites  held  for  so 
many  centuries  after  all  the  rest  of  the  country  had 
been  occupied  by  the  chosen  people,  and  from  which 
David  dislodged  them  at  last,  taking  possession  of  it 
as  the  capital  of  his  kingdom.     Here  Solomon  built 
his   splendid  palace.     On  this  hill  was  all  the  pag- 
eantry of  his  magnificent  reign. 

At  the  very  foot  of  the  east  wall  of  our  hotel  is  the 
"  pool  of  Hezekiah,"  closely  surrounded  by  houses 
on  all  sides,  the  massive  stone  walls  of  which  spring 
up  out  of  the  very  water  of  the  pool. 

We  were  only  just  introduced  into  our  room  when 
Dr.  DeHass,  the  American  Consul,  took  us  on  to  the 
flat  roof  of  the  hotel,  to  point  out  to  us  the  various 
localities  of  the  city.  Immediately  before  us,  and  on 
the  other  side  of  the  city,  was  the  great  mosque  of 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM.  335 

Omar,  occupying  the  very  site  of  the  old  Temple. 
To  the  left,  and  much  nearer  to  us,  was  the  Church 
of  the  Holy  Sepulcher,  supposed  to  cover  the  ground 
of  the  crucifixion,  and  the  tomb  of  our  Lord. 
Beyond  all  rose  the  Mount  of  Olives. 

The  city  itself  did  not  answer  to  my  preconcep- 
tion, but  the  Mount  of  Olives  did,  almost  exactly. 
That  bold  swell  beyond  the  Kedron  was  just  what  I 
had  had  in  my  imagination  from  childhood.  It  did 
not  seem  new  to  me,  but  like  a  piece  of  landscape 
long  familiar.  I  could  scarcely  restrain  my  tears  as 
I  imagined  the  Master  climbing  its  steep  ascent,  in 
the  evening,  by  one  of  the  paths  before  me,  making 
his  way  from  the  midst  of  the  evil-minded  men  that 
had  sneered  at  his  doctrines,  and  sought  to  entangle 
him  with  questions,  to  find  peace  and  rest  in  the 
bosom  of  the  lovely  family  of  Bethany. 

It  was  too  late  to  undertake  anything,  the  sun 
being  now  nearly  at  his  setting,  but  on  the  following 
day  wre  had  an  early  breakfast,  and,  refusing  all  offers 
of  a  guide,  left  the  city  by  the  Jaffa  gate,  and  fol- 
lowed the  wall  around  on  the  west  and  north  side  till 
we  came  to  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  which  lies 
along  the  east  side  of  the  city.  Descending  some 
distance  along  the  valley,  we  crossed  the  brook  Ked- 
ron on  a  bridge,  near  which  on  our  left  was  the  chapel 
of  the  tomb  of  the  Virgin.  This  chapel  lies  chiefly 
under  ground.  It  was  erected  in  the  time  of  the 
Crusades.  The  tradition  pretends  that  both  the  Virgin 
and  her  parents  are  buried  here,  and  also  that  it 
covers  the  very  place  where  Our  blessed  Saviour  lay 
when  his  sweat  was  as  it  were  great  drops  of  blood, 
falling  to  the  ground* 


336  FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM. 

The  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  or  at  least  the  sup- 
posed site  of  it,  is  a  little  higher  up  as  you  ascend 
out  of  this  valley  upon  the  slope  of  Olivet.  The  gar- 
den is  inclosed  by  a  stone  wall,  and  kept  by  a  man 
whom  I  took  to  be  a  monk.  In  fact,  there  are  two 
inclosures,  one  belonging  to  the  Latin,  and  the  other 
to  the  Greek  Church.  That  in  possession  of  the 
Romanists  is  very  well  kept,  being  cultivated  in  flow- 
ers that  grow  in  small  beds,  with  walks  between  in 
every  direction.  But  I  was  pained  to  see  images 
representing  the  sufferings  of  the  Saviour  in  their 
various  stages.  That  part  which  is  in  the  hands  of 
the  Greeks  has  no  special  care  taken  of  it. 

There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  these  grounds 
are  properly  located,  though  of  course  the  exact 
boundaries  of  the  garden  cannot  be  determined.  I 
have  not  the  least  doubt  that  we  stood  within  the. 
very  precincts  of  the  Agony.  It  was  a  solemn 
moment,  and  we  felt  it  to  be  so.  The  very  aged 
olive  trees  which  stand  in  the  inclosure  help  the 
imagination  in  the  effort  to  make  the  scene  real.  It 
was  in  this  place,  on  this  comparatively  level  plot  of 
ground,  at  the  foot  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  that 
Jesus  left  the  three  disciples  about  a  stone's  cast, 
and,  falling  prostrate  on  his  face,  uttered  that  bitter 
cry  to  the  Father,  "  If  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass 
from  me."  It  was  here  that  that  supreme  act  of 
Submission  took  place.  "Not  my  will,  but  thine,  be 
done."  It  was  here  that,  with  his  human  heart 
breaking  for  sympathy,  he  returned'  to  the  three  to 
find  them  asleep.  "  What !  could  ye  not  watch  with 
me  one  hour?"  No!  thou  blessed  Victinio  Here  in 
the  "garden  of  the  oil  press"   must  thou  tread  the 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM.  337 

wine  press  alone.  Of  the  people  none  shall  be  with 
thee — none  shall  help  thee.  Only  an  angel  shall 
come  and  strengthen  thee.  Was  it  superstition  that 
prompted  us  to  bring  away  some  pebbles  from  the 
place  ? 

From  the  garden  we  ascended  the  slope  of  Olivet, 
by  the  most  northerly  path,  which  is  the  easiest 
ascent.  At  the  summit  we  turned  southward  to  the 
point  which  was  directly  "  over  against "  the  Temple, 
and  there  paused  upon  the  brow  of  the  mount.  What 
a  view  of  the  city  this  point  commands !  The  side 
nearest  you  is  the  lowest,  and  the  whole  city  sweeps 
up  an  inclined  plane,  from  the  Mosque  of  Omar  to 
the  Tower  of  David.  I  say  an  inclined  plane,  for  so 
it  is  now,  substantially,  the  gorges  which  divided  the 
different  sections  formerly  being  filled  up.  From  the 
brow  of  the  Mount  of  Olives  the  Temple  was  in  full 
view  from  the  base  up,  as  it  was  on  this  side  of  the 
city,  and  nothing  intervenes  to  break  the  line  of 
vision.  The  Mosque  of  Omar,  which  now  occupies 
the  site  of  the  Temple,  is  in  full  view,  from  the  foun- 
dation to  the  dome. 

At  the  point  from  which  we  gazed  upon  the  city 
we  must  have  been  within  a  few  yards  of  the  place 
where  our  Saviour  sat,  surrounded  by  the  disciples, 
when  he  wept  over  the  city.  Nothing  could  have 
been  a  more  natural  topic  than  that  upon  which  the 
disciples  remarked — the  great  stones  and  the  stupen- 
dous buildings  before  them.  He  saw  the  wicked 
human  life  that  was  compressed  within  its  walls,  and 
all  its  history  of  sin,  at  once ;  he  saw,  also,  the  swift 
coming  judgments  of  God  upon  the  place.  In  the 
scope  of  his  vision  were  the  Roman  legions,  the  long 


338  FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM. 

siege,  the  dreadful  famine,  the  assault,  and  the  streets 
red  with  human  blood.  No  wonder  that  he  wept, 
and  exclaimed,  O  Jerusalem!  Jerusalem! 

On  the  summit  of  Olivet  we  ascended  the  tower 
of  a  mosque  that  stands  there,  and  had  a  grand  view 
of  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  and  of  the  city.  I 
have  said  that  the  city  rises  from  its  eastern  wall  in 
an  inclined  plane.  It  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  there 
are  no  inequalities  of  surface,  but  only  that  they  are 
so  slight  as  not  to  be  observed  in  a  distant  view,  and 
so  slight  as  to  be  nothing  compared  with  the  deep 
ravines  and  sharp  hills  of  the  early  times.  The  rub- 
bish of  ages  has  filled  up  the  ravines  in  some  places 
to  a  depth  of  I  know  not  how  many  feet. 

We  had  from  the  Tower  of  Olivet,  also,  our  first 
view  of  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  and  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  with  the  mountains  of  Moab  beyond.  The 
Dead  Sea  seems  to  be  almost  at  your  feet,  though  it 
is  twenty  miles  away.  With  a  good  glass  the  view  is 
very  distinct. 

In  this  mosque  there  is  an  open  ccurt,  in  which 
there  is  a  small  octagonal  chapel,  surmounted  by  a 
dome.  This,  they  say,  covers  the  spot  where  the 
Lord  ascended.  The  floor  is  paved  with  square 
stones,  laid  on  the  surface  of  the  rock.  Near  the 
centre  one  square  of  the  pavement  is  wanting,  leav- 
ing the  natural  rock  below  exposed.  In  this  rock 
we  saw  an  indentation,  which  they  say  is  the  foot- 
print made  by  the  Lord  when  he  went  up.  An 
indentation  in  the  artificial  and  modern  pavement, 
they  affirm,  also,  was  made  by  his  staff  at  the  samd 
moment  ! 

When  we  had  satisfied   ourselves  with  the  view> 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM,  339 

east  and  west,  from  this  summit,  we  started  over  the 
brow  of  the  mountain  to  find  Bethany.  We  had  no 
guide,  but  followed  our  own  instincts.  After  we  had 
gone  down  some  distance  on  the  eastern  slope,  we 
began  to  be  apprehensive  that  we  must  have  made 
some  mistake.  A  village  on  a  hill  beyond  seemed 
too  far  away.  Besides,  it  was  not  related  to  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  as  we  supposed  Bethany  to  be. 
Still  we  pressed  on,  and  in  a  few  minutes  came  upon 
the  object  of  our  search,  suddenly.  We  were  just 
upon  it  before  we  saw  it.  Still  I,  at  least,  was  disap- 
pointed. I  had  never  thought  of  Bethany  as  being 
so  deep  down  in  a  mountain  gorge — so  shut  in  by 
mural  walls.  I  had  always  thought  of  it  as  being 
pleasantly  situated,  well  up  on  the  eastern  face  of  the 
Mount  of  Olives.  But  we  found  it  hid  away,  as  one 
might  say,  in  a  ravine.  Here  we  met  a  native,  ready 
to  show  us  Lazarus's  house  and  tomb.  Of  course 
we  paid  backsheesh,  and  of  course,  also,  we  knew  that 
these  traditional  places  were,  a  thousand  chances  to 
one,  not  the  actual  sites.  But,  unsightly  as  this  poor 
village  is,  it  was  a  pleasure  to  see  the  spot  where 
that  family  resided  who  were  so  dear  to  the  Master. 
We  returned  by  the  more  circuitous  road  made  for 
carriages,  which  crosses  two  ridges  ere  we  reach  the 
city;  The  sun  was  warm,  but  the  air  extremely  cool. 
We  had  been  on  foot  all  the  morning,  and  it  was 
now  near  noon.  There  were  patches  of  cloud  upon 
the  sky,  and  the  spaces  between  were  wondrously 
blue  and  beautiful.  Along  this  path,  no  doubt, 
our  Saviour  had  walked.  I  had  him  strangely  asso- 
ciated in  my  mind  with  the  gray  olive-trees  that 
are  still  found  in  considerable  numbers  on  the  moun- 


340  A  week:  in  Jerusalem. 

tain.  Filled  with  thoughts  of  Him,  of  his  grace, 
and  his  agony,  we  sat  down  upon  the  flat  surface  of 
a  rock,  on  that  Olivet  on  which  he  had  sat,  and  read 
the  twelfth  chapter  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  John. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


A  WEEK  IN  JERUSALEM. 


IN  COMPANY  WITH  Rev.  Dr.  DeHass,  the 
American  Consul  at  Jerusalem,  Dr.  Schaff,  and 
several  other  gentlemen,  we  visited  the  "  Tombs 
of  the  Kings."  This  is  an  instance  of  the  arbitrary 
manner  in  which  localities  are  designated  here.  The 
name  of  a  place  is  not  always  misleading,  but  it  is 
more  frequently  so  than  otherwise,  perhaps.  At 
least  it  is  very  often  so.  It  is  certain  that  the  kings 
were  not  buried  in  these  tombs.  But  they  are  full  of 
interest,  both  on  account  of  their  antiquity  and  of 
their  remarkable  workmanship.  True,  they  are  not 
so  old  as  many  other  things  about  the  city,  but  they 
probably  date  back  to  about  the  beginning  of  the 


A  WEEK  IN  JERUSALEM.  341 

Christian  era.  Thev  are  hewed  out  of  a  hill  of  solid 
rock.  First,  there  is  an  open  court,  say  thirty  feet 
square,  quarried  out  near  the  base  of  the  hill,  with 
perpendicular  walls,  say  twenty  feet  high  on  the 
upper  side,  and  eight  or  ten  on  the  lower.  Into  the 
hill,  on  the  upper  side  of  this  open  court,  a  portico 
was  hewn,  about  fifteen  feet  on  the  wall,  and  pene- 
trating the  rock  seven  or  eight  feet.  Two  columns, 
eauidistant  from  each  other  and  from  the  ends  of  the 

JL 

portico,  were  left  standing  as  supports  of  the  rock 
overhead.  From  the  north  end  of  the  portico  you 
enter  through  a  small  door  into  an  inner  court.  Here 
you  must  have  candles,  for  you  are  now  in  an  apart- 
ment cut  into  the  living  rock,  with  no  opening  but  the 
small,  low  door  through  which  you  entered.  This 
chamber  is  scarcely  twenty  feet  square,  and  commu- 
nicates with  another  of  about  the  same  dimensions. 
Around  the  chambers  the  niches  are  cut  into  the 
rock,  into  which  the  dead  were  introduced.  These 
niches,  I  should  think,  were  two  feet  wide,  two  and 
a  half  high,  and  penetrate  the  rock  about  six  feet. 
One  I  noticed  which  was  differently  placed,  the 
opening  running  back  about  two  feet,  and  then  the 
receptacle  for  the  body  cut  transversely  so  as  to  lie 
parallel  with  the  wall  of  the  chamber.  Over  every 
door  and  every  niche  the  rock  was  cut  in  the  shape  of 
an  arch,  the  curve  being  perfect,  and  the  surface  cut 
very  smooth.  The  dimensions  I  give  as  they  im- 
pressed me.  I  made  no  measurements.  There  may, 
also,  be  some  inaccuracy  of  detail,  as  I  made  no  notes 
on  the  spot,  but  write  from  memory.  But  my  descrip- 
tion is  substantially  correct — whether  it  is  very  per- 
spicuous or  not,  I  can  scarcely  venture  to  say. 


342  A  WEEK  IN  JERUSALEM. 

The  doors  to  the  inner  chambers  were  stone 
slabs  swinging  on  projections,  top  and  bottom,  at 
one  side,  like  rude  gates  I  have  seen,  with  the  outer 
frame  on  one  side  projecting  into  a  socket  in  the  sill 
below  and  extending  into  some  support  provided  for 
it  above.  The  outer  door  was  closed  by  a  slab  held 
to  its  place  by  a  massive  stone  placed  against  it. 
This  stone  itself  was  displaced  and  replaced  by  an 
ingenious  contrivance  that  I  cannot  describe. 

Tombs  were  often,  if  not  generally,  made  in  the 
rock  in  the  sides  of  hills.  All  the  hills  about  Jeru- 
salem are  of  limestone,  and  generally  very  precipi- 
tous. Very  often  the  edge  of  a  stratum  stands  per- 
pendicular on  the  side  of  a  hill.  Very  few  tombs 
are  as  elaborate  as  that  which  I  have  described.  A 
plain  one  could  be  made  with  comparatively  little 
labor,  and,  where  labor  was  so  cheap,  at  small  cost. 
The  stone  would  only  require  to  be  blocked  out,  and 
the  seams  between  the  strata  would  direct  the  line  of 
clearage  for  floor  and  ceiling.  The  opening  would 
be  narrow — a  mere  door — the  interior  being  of  the 
dimensions  which  the  proprietor  might  desire. 
When  the  body  was  placed  within,  a  slab,  neatly 
fitted  to  its  place,  was  set  up  against  the  door,  hav- 
ing an  epitaph  cut  upon  it.  Against  this  slab  a 
heavy  stone  was  rolled  to  keep  it  in  place. 

In  such  a  tomb,  no  doubt,  Lazarus  was  buried  at 
Bethany,  and  when  the  slab  was  removed  Jesus 
called  to  the  dead  man,  commanding  him,  not  to  rise 
tip,  but  to  come  forth,  and  he  came  foith,  bound 
hand  and  foot  with  grave-clothes.  How  natural  all 
this  seems  to  one  who  has  seen  the  old  tombs  here. 

How  I  have  realized  here,  what  I  knew  before,  the 


A  WEEK  IN  JERUSALEM.  343 

meaning  of  the  statement  about  the  new  tomb  which 
Joseph  had  hewn  in  the  rock,  into  which  the  body  of 
our  Lord  was  laid.  It  was  cut  into  the  rock  in  one 
of  the  steep  hillsides  near  the  city.  A  heavy  stone 
was  placed  against  the  door.  "  Who  shall  roll  us 
away  the  stone  ?"  said  the  heart-broken  women,  as 
they  were  on  their  way,  bearing  sweet  spices — prob- 
ably in  vessels  on  their  heads,  as  women  are  seen 
every  moment  here,  now,  carrying  whatever  they 
have  to  carry  thus — to  embalm  his  body.  But  we 
must  pass  to  other  topics. 

It  is  only  a  few  years  since  a  man  was  walking 
along  the  north  wall,  on  the  outside  of  the  city,  east 
of  the  Damascus  Gate,  when  his  dog  started  some 
small  game  which  disappeared  through  a  small  open- 
ing at  the  foot  of  the  wall.  The  dog  entered  after  it 
and  was  gone  a  long  time,  coming  back  at  last  out 
of  breath,  as  if  after  a  considerable  chase.  This 
opening  is  on  the  side  of  the  hill  on  which  the  Tem- 
ple stood.  The  hint  which  the  dog  had  given  was 
acted  upon.  The  place  was  entered  and  a  cave 
of  immense  extent  found  to  be  there — a  cave  of 
which  no  one  had  any  knowledge.  At  first  on  enter- 
ing there  is  a  considerable  descent,  after  which  the 
floor  is  horizontal,  or  nearly  so,  but  very  much 
broken  by  mounds.  On  and  on  and  on  it  extends 
and  certainly  reaches  in  under  the  Temple  area. 

A  most  remarkable  cave  it  is,  but  is  it  a  cave? 
Look  at  the  wall — there  are  singular  marks  on  it. 
Ah  !  there  is  no  mistaking  them — they  are  the  marks 
of  tools,  and  they  are  everywhere.  Is  this  a  quarry? 
There  can  be  no  doubt  about  it.  And  these  piles  on 
piles  of  small  pieces  of  stone  lying  here  and  there 


344  A  WEEK  IN  JERUSALEM. 

loose,  what  arc  they?  Bring  a  light  and  let  us 
examine  them.  They  are  chippings  from  the  rough 
ashlers  as  they  were  sliapcd  by  the  masons.  The 
edges  are  as  sharp  as  they  were  the  day  they  were 
chiseled  off. 

This,  then,  is  not  only  a  quarry,  but  something 
more — it  is  a  mason's  workshop,  in  which  the  rough 
stone  was  dressed  for  use. 

Can  it  be  that  this  is  the  quarry  where  the  stone 
of  which  the  first  Temple  was  built  was  procured? 
To  my  mind  this  is  the  most  natural  way  to  account 
for  it.  The  fact  that  the  stone  which  was  gotten  out 
here  was  evidently  dressed  here,  also,  is  in  farther 
support  of  this  view.  For  it  is  expressly  stated  that 
every  stone  was  prepared  for  its  place  in  the  wall 
beforehand,  so  that  in  erecting  the  Temple  the 
stroke  of  the  hammer  was  never  heard.  Is  it  not 
most  likely  that  a  shaft  communicated  with  this 
quarry  from  the  Temple  area,  or  near  it,  the  stones 
already  dressed  and  fitted  each  for  its  place,  being 
there  elevated  by  machinery  to  be  laid  into  the  wall? 
So  think  intelligent  men  who  have  examined  into 
the  facts  with  great  care,  and  the  conclusion  seems 
very  reasonable  to  me. 

We  went  into  this  wonderful  quarry  a  long  way, 
but  not  to  the  end  of  it.  It  does  not  all  lie  in  a  con- 
tinuous line,  but  straggles  about  a  good  deal,  as  a 
quarry  worked  by  many  men  would  inevitably  do. 
I  brought  away  some  of  the  chippings,  which  I 
expect  to  take  home  with  me.  They  look  almost  as 
if  they  had  been  smitten  off  from  the  rough  ashler 
yesterday. 

This  quarry  strikes  me  as  taking  high  rank  among 


A  WEEK  IX  JERUSALEM.  345 

the  most  remarkable  things  in  which  this  city  of 
wonders  abounds.  It  is  likely  that  the  rock  taken 
out  of  it  sufficed  not  only  for  the  Temple  but  for  all 
the  magnificent  structures  erected  by  the  opulent 
and  luxurious  son  of  David.  Imagine  the  scene  of 
toil  that  must  have  been  witnessed  in  this  subterra- 
neous workshop.  Hundreds  of  men  must  have 
been  engaged  at  once.  These  dark,  cavernous  soli- 
tudes must  have  been  luminous  with  torches,  while 
the  click  of  a  thousand  hammers  stunned  the  ear. 
While  vast  multitudes  were  hewing  cedar  in  Mount 
Lebanon,  other  multitudes  here  were  preparing 
"great  stones,  costly  stones,  and  hewed  stones, 
to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  house."  Here  were 
a  portion,  also,  of  the  "  chief  of  Solomon's  offi- 
cers," "  which  ruled  over  the  people  that  wrought 
in  the  work."  There  were  Tyrians  and  Hebrews 
mixed  together  here,  for  "  Solomon's  builders  and 
Hiram's  builders  did  hew  them,  and  the  stone- 
squarers."  So  perfectly  was  the  work  done  that, 
"the  house,  when  it  was  in  building,  was  built  of 
stone  made  ready  before  it  was  brought  thither;  so 
that  there  was  neither  hammer,  nor  ax,  nor  any  tool 
of  iron  heard  in  the  house  while  it  was  in  building." 
And  even  to-day  the  work  of  the  Phoenician  masons 
is  seen  and  identified  in  Jerusalem.  It  is  known  by 
the  peculiar  style  of  beveled  stone  which  always 
indicates  the  presence  of  that  people.  Some  of  it 
stands  now  where  it  was  plaoed  2,900  years  ago,  and 
many  stones  which  have  been  recovered  from  old 
ruins  have  been  built  into  new  walls,  where  they  pro- 
claim to  this  day  the  presence  of  Hiram's  masons, 
aiding,  and,  indeed,  directing  in  the  work. 


34-6  A  WEEK  IN  JERUSALEM. 

But  the  center  of  chief  attraction  to  the  Christian 
visitor  here  is  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher. 
It  is  a  building  of  very  great  proportions,  and  covers 
the  traditional  sites  of  the  crucifixion  and  the  burial 
of  our  Lord.  Modern  criticism  has  called  in  ques- 
tion, and,  indeed,  sometimes  repudiated  this  tradi- 
tion. Robinson,  especially,  who  is  widely  received 
as  authority  in  matters  pertaining  to  the  topography 
of  Jerusalem,  reached  very  definite  conclusions 
adverse  to  the  claims  of  this  particular  locality. 
But  excavations  made  since  have  tended  strongly  to 
discredit  some  of  his  theories,  and  go  to  strengthen 
the  drift  of  tradition,  which  always,  so  far  as  we 
know,  pointed  to  this  place.  It  is  within  the  walls 
of  the  present  city,  and  Robinson's  investigations  led 
him  to  suppose  that  it  was  within  the  walls  as  they 
stood  at  the  time  of  the  crucifixion.  Recent  discov- 
eries, however,  tend  to  the  opposite  conclusion — that 
this  particular  section  of  the  city  was  outside  of  the 
wall  as  it  then  stood.  This  is  a  vital  point,  as  we 
know  Christ  suffered  "without  the  gate." 

Those  who  discredit  this  locality  affirm  that  the 
tradition  in  its  favor  originated  with  the  finding  of 
the  "true  cross"  here,  and  hold  that,  having  origin- 
ated in  such  a  fraud,  it  is  of  no  value,  and  cannot 
command  any  credit  among  reasonable  men.  But 
those  of  the  other  party  affirm  that  the  tradition  did 
not  originate  with  the  pious  fraud  about  "  the  true 
cross,"  but  existed  from  the  earliest  times,  and  that 
for  the  very  reason  that  Christ  was  known  to  have 
been  crucified  here,  Hadrian  built  his  heathen  tem- 
ple on  the  same  spot,  with  a  view  to  dishonor  it  in 
the  eyes  of  his  followers,  and  so  insult  and  humiliate 


A  WEEK  IN  JERUSALEM.  347 

them.  Farther,  they  maintain  that  for  the  reason 
that  this  was  known  to  be  the  place,  Helena  looked 
here  for  the  cross,  and  either  pretended  to  find  it,  or 
was  herself  imposed  upon  by  others.  For  myself,  I 
confess  that  I  am  not  sufficiently  learned  in  these 
matters  to  enter  into  the  controversy,  having  never 
devoted  a  day  to  the  investigation.  The  little 
inquiry  I  have  made  here  inclines  me  to  accept  this 
locality.  The  principal  reason  against  it,  so  far  as  I 
can  see,  is  found  in  the  deplorable  superstition  and 
fanaticisms  that  cluster  about  the  place.  We  have 
happened  here  in  the  week  of  the  Greek  Easter,  and 
have  seen  this  fanaticism  in  its  most  revolting  fea- 
tures, mitigated  somewhat  by  two  circumstances. 
The  first  is  that,  this  year,  owing  to  some  difference 
in  the  manner  of  reckoning  from  the  full  moon,  the 
Greek  Easter  falls  a  week  later  than  the  Latin,  so 
that  the  collisions  and  confusion  that  sometimes 
occur  have  been  avoided,  as  their  parades  came  on 
different  days;  and  the  second,  that  the  anticipated 
war  prevented  the  very  large  influx  of  pilgrims  that 
are  in  attendance  usually  at  the  Easter  solemnities. 
These  pilgrims  come  in  great  numbers,  and  from  the 
most  remote  regions. 

But  what  we  have  seen  is  sufficiently  revolting. 
On  Thursday  the  Armenians  had  the  farce  of  foot- 
washing.  The  Patriarch  enacted  the  part  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  Bishops  represented  the  twelve  apos- 
tles. They  occupied  a  platform,  erected  for  the  pur- 
pose, in  the  paved  area  in  front  of  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Sepulcher.  The  acting  was  very  poor,  so  I 
thought.  But,  as  I  was  never  present  at  a  theatrical 
performance,  I  must  be   understood  to  be  a  poorly 


348  A  WEEK  IN  JERUSALEM. 

qualified  critic  of  the  drama.  The  actors  showed 
but  little  solemnity.  One  of  them  came  upon  the 
stage  hurriedly,  munching  the  last  mouthful  of  his 
breakfast,  and  I  saw  several  of  them  smiling.  They 
were  constantly  looking  around,  scanning  the  crowd 
of  spectators.  There  were  a  great  many  present, 
but  the  number  of  pilgrims  being  so  greatly  reduced 
this  year,  the  crowd  was  not  so  great  as  usual,  nor 
the  enthusiasm  up  to  its  usual  pitch.  After  the  feet 
were  washed,  some  handkerchiefs  were  handed  up  to 
be  dipped  in  the  water,  after  which  bunches  of 
flowers  were  dipped  in  the  basin  and  the  wTater 
sprinkled  on  the  people.  I  had  been  told  that  there 
would  be  a  great  excitement,  but  was  disappointed. 
There  was,  however,  one  scene  at  the  last  which 
answered  my  expectatious.  On  a  wall,  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  an  olive  branch  of  con- 
siderable size  was  fixed  upon  a  projecting  platform, 
eight  or  ten  feet  above  a  projecting  pavement.  So 
soon  as  the  ceremonies  were  ended  there  was  a  gen- 
eral scuffle  for  the  possession  of  some  part  of  this 
branch.  All  the  twigs  were  broken  off  in  a  twink- 
ling, and  then  there  was  such  a  contest  over  the 
lower  part,  which  seemed  to  be  six  or  eight  feet 
long,  and  was  too  large  to  be  broken,  as  w^ould 
amaze  you.  As  many  men  as  could  get  their  hands 
on  it  were  pulling  and  wrenching  away  at  it,  shout- 
ing and  yelling  as  if  their  life  depended  on  getting 
possession.  The  last  I  saw  of  it,  it  was  going  slowly 
up  the  street,  a  crowd  pulling  with  all  their  might, 
some  this  way  and  some  that.  I  suppose  the 
strongest  got  it  at  last.     I  am  told  that  pieces  of  this 


A  WEEK  IN  JERUSALEM.  349 

olive   branch   are   of  inestimable  value — for  healing 
the  sick  ! 

To-day  we  have  been  to  witness  the  celestial  fire 
issuing  from  the  Holy  Sepulcher.  By  the  interposi- 
tion of  our  Consul  we  got  a  good  position  in  the  gal- 
lery of  the  rotunda  of  the  church.  Immediately 
under  this  rotunda  is  the  chapel  of  the  Sepulcher, 
which  stands  immediately  over  what  is  supposed  to 
be  the  Tomb  of  our  Lord.  In  the  area  around  this 
an  excited  multitude  was  assembled  when  we 
arrived,  about  two  hours  in  advance  of  the  time, 
which  was  two  o'clock  p.  M.  Many  persons  had  been 
there  from  seven  in  the  morning  to  secure  and  hold 
good  positions.  The  Greeks  occupied  one-half  of 
the  area,  and  the  Armenians  the  other.  The  latter 
were  quiet,  but  such  carryings  on  as  took  place 
amongst  the  Greeks  I  never  saw  nor  imagined.  It 
was  like  bedlam.  They  were  massed  together  as 
thick  as  they  could  stand,  except  that  a  space  was 
kept  clear  by  soldiers  present  for  the  purpose.  The 
space  was  necessary  for  the  performance.  Near  the 
round  opening  in  the  side  of  the  chapel  out  of 
which  the  fire  was  to  proceed,  the  crowd  was 
thickest.  They  were  clapping  their  hands,  jumping 
up  and  down,  striking  their  heads  with  their  hands, 
striking  themselves  against  each  other;  some  were 
standing  on  the  shoulders  of  others,  jumping  about 
and  falling  and  rising  up  again  in  the  most  remarka- 
ble way;  all  shouting,  screaming,  yelling  at  the  top 
of  their  voices.  Sometimes  every  one  seemed  to  be 
shouting  on  his  own  account,  and  then  again  there 
was  something  like  a  chorus  and  response  in  unison. 
Once  or  twice  there  was  a  lull  in  the  uproar,  so  that 


35°  A  WEEK  IN  JERUSALEM. 

nothing  would  be  heard  but  the  thousands  of  people 
assembled  under  the  great  dome  in  conversation,  and 
even  that  was  "  like  the  noise  of  many  waters."  I 
could  think  of  nothing  but  that  as  a  comparison. 

Hours  passed,  and  the  excitement  became  more 
intense.  With  many  it  was  frenzy.  They  were 
raving  around  like  madmen.  Sometimes,  when  the 
soldiers  would  interfere  to  keep  them  in  their  places, 
the  devotee  would  caress  them,  patting  their  cheeks, 
evidently  with  a  view  to  conciliate  them  lest  he 
should  be  forcibly  removed  from  the  church.  The 
soldiers  behaved  with  most  exemplary  patience,  but 
they  were  obliged  to  eject  some.  As  the  frenzy  rose 
to  madness,  the  soldiers  stood  in  a  line  with  their 
backs  to  the  people,  in  order  to  keep  the  necessary 
space  clear.  Though  they  stood  against  the  surge  of 
the  tumultuous  human  sea  with  all  their  force,  the 
line  was  several  times  broken,  when  officers  would 
rush  in,  armed  with  batons,  with  which  they  threat- 
ened the  heads  of  the  mad  multitude  ;  and  when 
threats  failed  they  were  obliged  to  resort  to  blows. 
This  they  never  seemed  to  do  except  in  the  most 
extreme  emergency.  At  last  banners  were  borne 
into  the  area.  Over  one  of  these  a  fearful  scuffle 
took  place  as  to  who  should  carry  it.  It  was  terrific, 
and  the  soldiers  were  obliged  to  interfere  in  a  forcible 
manner.  When  the  banner  was  at  last  elevated  it 
displayed  a  terrible  rent.  Then  came  the  priests  in 
their  satin  robes,  covered  with  gold  brocade-work, 
who  followed  the  banners  three  times  around  the 
chapel.  At  the  end  of  this  procession  the  fire  was 
to  appear.  Then  came  a  job  for  the  military.  They 
had  to  open  a  way  through  the  mob  for  the  Patri- 


A  WEfiK  IN  JERUSALEM*  35  1 

arch  to  pass  to  the  entrance  of  the  chapel.  The 
mass  seemed  as  if  it  were  glued  together,  and  had  to 
be  wrenched  asunder  by  main  strength.  At  last  the 
supreme  moment  came.  The  Patriarch  entered  the 
chapel  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher,  and  was  shut  in  there 
alone  in  the  Tomb  of  the  Lord.  He  had  been 
examined  closely  in  the  presence  of  witnesses  to 
prove  that  he  carried  no  match  nor  other  means  of 
lighting  a  fire.  This  precaution  taken,  to  assure  the 
genuineness  of  the  miracle,  a  suspense  that  seemed 
awful  followed  upon  the  disappeance  of  the  vener- 
able, white-bearded  patriarch.  The  interval  seemed 
long;  but  at  last,  suddenly,  fire  streamed  out  of  the 
orifice  on  each  side  of  the  chapel.  A  scene  followed 
wrhich  beggars  description.  Men  rushed  forward, 
wild,  frantic,  and  lighted  torches  from  the  celestial 
flame.  With  these  they  ran  out  shouting  through 
the  mad  throng,  all  through  the  church,  into  all  the 
side-chapels  and  galleries,  distributing  the  sacred 
fire.  In  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time  a  thousand 
— five  thousand — candles  were  lighted  in  the  church, 
and  in  the  courts  and  streets  adjoining.  Ever}'' 
Greek  and  Armenian  in  Jerusalem  had  a  candle 
lighted  from  this  divine  source — the  flame  that  burst 
out  of  the  Tomb  of  Christ  on  the  Saturday  of  Easter- 
week.  Soon  the  partly-burnt  candle  is  extinguished, 
to  be  preserved  until  he  who  held  it  while  it  was  in 
blaze  dies,  when  it  is  deposited  in  his  grave. 

This  poor  rabble  believe,  without  a  doubt,  that  the 
fire  issues  immediately  from  God,  and  I  believe  the 
tapers  are  kept  scrupulously  burning  in  the  churches 
throughout  the  year,  being  lighted  successively  from 
this  fire. 


352  A  WEEK  IN  JERUSALEM. 

I  witnessed  these  spectacles  against  my  per- 
sonal inclination,  as  I  did  the  Dose  at  Cairo.  It  is 
extremely  revolting  to  me  to  see  Christians  worship- 
ing after  pagan  models.  But  in  this  instance  it 
became  my  duty  to  be  an  eye-witness,  as  I  have 
undertaken  to  report  the  results  of  my  observations 
to  the  Church  at  home,  and  especially  with  respect 
to  the  state  of  religion  in  various  parts  of  the  world. 

But  there  has  been  one  scene  that  I  could  not 
make  up  my  mind  to  witness — the  very  thought  of  it 
outraged  both  my  faith  and  my  sensibilities.  On 
Friday  night  the  crucifixion  was  dramatized.  Of 
course  I  had  long  known  that  such  things  were  done; 
but  as  I  read  of  them  they  seemed  remote  and  myth- 
ical. Now  the  affair  was  in  my  very  neighborhod.  I 
was  invited  to  be  present,  and  assured  that  I  should 
have  a  favorable  place  to  witness  the  acting.  It 
seemed  to  me  that  I  could  not  go — that  my  feet 
would  refuse  to  move.  I  felt  that  I  should  dishonor 
my  adorable  Saviour  if  I  were  to  participate  in  any 
way,  even  if  it  were  only  as  a  witness,  in  such  a  blas- 
phemous caricature  of  his  agony.  To  see  a  set  of 
heartless  priests  flaunting  their  gold  brocade  in  tab- 
leaux of  the  crucifixion,  looking  to  be  accredited  as 
fine  actors — I  could  never  hold  up  my  head  again  in 
a  Christian  assembly  if  I  were  to  do  it. 

At  that  performance  two  Greek  Christians  had 
high  words  on  some  point  of  religion,  and  one  of 
them,  who  was  drunk,  stabbed  the  other. 

One  of  the  most  humiliating  facts  that  I  have  ever 
had  to  contemplate  is  that  the  Turkish  soldiers  have 
to  be  present  at  these  solemnities,  in  considerable 
force,  to  keep  the  peace.    But  I  have  seen  it  with  my 


A  WEEK  IN  JERUSALEM.  353 

own  eyes.  It  is  not  an  unfriendly,  persecuting  inter- 
ference, but  a  necessary  measure  of  police.  So 
degraded  is  the  moral  standard  amongst  these  degen- 
erate Ritualistic  Churches ! 

The  greater  part  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulcher  is  in  the  possession  of  the  Greek  Church; 
but  the  Latins,  Armenians,  Copts,  and  Abyssinians, 
have  each  a  chapel,  and  I  believe  all  have  a  common 
right  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Sepulcher. 

It  seems  a  little  remarkable  that  there  should  be  ne 
Missions  in  Palestine  of  any  Protestant  Church, 
except  the  Established  Church  of  England  and  one 
small  Baptist  Church  at  Nablous,  under  the  care  of  a. 
native  pastor.  Why  has  not  the  heart  of  the  Church 
turned  more  warmly  toward  Jerusalem?  Surely 
there  ought  to  be  an  American  Church  in  the  city  of 
Jerusalem.  There  is  no  Protestant  place  of  worship 
in  the  city  but  that  of  the  Church  of  England.  I 
hope  the  Churches  of  our  own  country  will  take  the 
matter  up,  and  secure  a  foothold  here  without  delay. 

Both  the  United  Presbyterian  and  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Churches  have  missions  in  Syria,  but 
they  are  all  to  the  north  of  Palestine.  In  Mount 
Lebanon  they  have  had  considerable  success.  But 
is  it  not  desirable,  above  all  things,  to  see  a  thorough 
evangelism  set  on  foot  in  that  country  from  which 
the  gospel  started  out?  I  confess  to  a  sentiment  of 
that  sort.  It  seems  so  anomalous  that  Christianity 
should  be  effete  in  the  midst  of  the  hills  where  its 
Author  lived  and  suffered,  that  I  cannot  but  cry, 
"  How  long,  Lord  !  "  Nor  can  I  doubt  that  the  day 
hastens  when  God  will  recover  Mount  Zion  to 
himself.      12 


354  A  WEEK  IN  JERUSALEM. 

Christianity  is  beginning  to  express  itself  more 
strongly  in  the  Holy  Land.  There  is  the  remarkable 
"Temple"  community.  Then  there  are  some  noble 
charities  established  by  Christians  in  Europe ;  nota- 
bly a  hospital  for  lepers,  founded  and  endowed  by  a 
noble  lady  of  Pomerania,  and  under  the  care  of  the 
Moravians.  The  house  is  a  substantial  stone  build- 
ing, as,  indeed,  all  houses  here  are.  The  premises 
are  very  well  kept,  and  every  thing  seemed  to  us  to 
be  very  well  managed.  On  our  way  to  visit  it  we 
passed  through  a  throng  of  lepers  congregated  near 
the  Jaffa  gate — all  beggars.  Though  the  appearance 
©fa  leper  is  different  from  what  I  had  pictured,  many 
of  them  have  certainly  a  most  loathsome  look. 
Their  rags  and  filth  give  the  finishing  touch  to  what 
would  be  as  disgusting  as  possible  without  these 
accompaniments.  When  we  entered  the  hospital  the 
contrast  was  most  striking,  and  even  leprosy  seemed 
to  be  half  relieved  of  its  horrors  by  the  cleanly  and 
comfortable  provision  made  for  the  inmates.  This 
liospital  is  outside  of  the  wall,  beyond  the  Jaffa  gate. 
I  at  first  supposed  that  all  the  houses  out  here  were 
built  by  well-to-do  Jews ;  but  I  find  that  some  of 
them  are  Christian  Institutions. 

I  had  often  heard  of  the  Jews'  wailing-place  in 
Jerusalem,  and  had  a  great  desire  to  see  it.  The 
great  Mosque  of  Omar  occupies  the  site  of  the  old 
Temple,  and  is  also  surrounded  by  a  wall  which  sep- 
arates it  from  the  rest  of  the  city.  The  east  wall, 
though,  is  the  city  wall,  while  the  other  three  divide 
the  grounds  of  the  mosque  from  the  city.  The 
grounds  thus  secluded  are  a  quadrangle  of  a  quarter 
cf   a   mile    each    way.     This    area    of    the    mosque 


A  WEEK  IN  JERUSALEM.  35S 

grounds  is,  as  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained,  the  same 
as  that  which  was  devoted  to  the  Temple.  Into 
this  area,  the  dearest  place  on  earth  to  the  Jew — Ylvs, 
holy  ground — he  is  never  permitted  to  enter. 

The  streets  of  Jerusalem  are  extremely  irregular 
— and  there  is  one  very  short,  perhaps  three  hundred 
yards  long,  and  rather  wider  than  the  average 
street  here,  which  lies  under  the  west  wall  of  the 
Temple-grounds.  This  wall  is  very  high,  probably 
thirty  feet — a  mere  dead  wall,  without  any  break  for 
door  or  window.  A  low  wall  runs  parallel  with  It  on 
the  other  side  of  the  street.  This  street  is  so  situ- 
ated as  to  be  very  little  used,  and  the  Jews  have 
purchased  of  the  Turkish  authorities  the  right  to 
come  here  every  Friday  afternoon,  and  bewail  the 
destruction  of  the  city  and  Temple,  and  their  owa 
dispersed  condition.  This  place  we  have  visited 
twice — once  on  Thursday  to  see  the  place,  and  then 
at  the  hour  of  wailing.  Even  on  Thursday  we  found 
a  few  there  uttering  their  dirge-like  lamentation, 
But  on  Friday  the  whole  street  was  filled  with  them, 
bewailing  in  a  solemn  and  bitter  tone  the  desolation 
of  their  race,  and  calling  on  the  God  of  their  fathers 
for  pity  and  help.  There  they  were,  as  near  to  the 
holy  ground  as  they  could  get,  yet  excluded  from 
it — and  gathered  there  to  mourn.  I  scarcely  ever 
shed  tears,  but  at  that  sight  the  tears  came.  True^ 
as  was  to  be  expected,  with  many  it  was  only  a 
formal  thing;  but  there  were  many  whose  wail  came 
out  of  their  very  souls.  Face,  and  attitude,  and 
voice,  all  were  in  unison  with  the  solemn  purpose  of 
the  occasion.     Judah  has  been  in  mourning  for  2,000 


356  A  WEEK  IN  JERUSALEM. 

years.  Is  it  His  blood  on  them  and  on  their  chil- 
dren ? 

Sometimes  there  is  a  responsive  chant  in  these 
words: 

Leader.  For  the  place  that  lies  desolate.  Re- 
sponse.    We  sit  in  solitude  and  mourn. 

Leader.  For  the  place  that  is  destroyed.  R.  We 
sit,  etc. 

Leader.  For  the  walls  that  are  overthrown.  R. 
We  sit,  etc. 

Leader.  For  our  majesty  that  is  departed.  R. 
We  sit,  etc. 

Leader.  For  our  great  men  who  lie  dead.  R. 
We  sit,  etc. 

Leader.  For  the  precious  stones  that  are  burned. 
R.     We  sit,  etc. 

Leader.  For  the  priests  who  have  stumbled.  R. 
We  sit,  etc. 

Leader.  For  our  kings  who  have  despised  Him. 
R.     We  sit,  etc. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

JERUSALEM. 

-^  rO  ONE  WEEK  can  suffice  to  get  a  thorough 
\  knowledge  of  the  topography  of  Jerusalem.  If 
J  I  could  command  the  time  for  it  I  should 
remain  a  month  at  least.  But  as  it  is,  I  must  make 
the  best  of  the  few  days  I  have. 

We  have  at  last  visited  the  great  Mosque  of  Omar, 
which  occupies  the  site  of  the  old  Temple.  It  is  by 
far  the  most  magnificent  building  here,  and  is  held 
by  good  Mussulmans  the  most  sacred  place  on  earth, 
next  to  Mecca.  Until  within  a  few  years  past  no 
Christian  was  permitted  to  enter  it,  and  even  now 
the  Jews  are  rigidly  excluded. 

The  mosque  stands,  as  the  Temple  did,  in  an  area 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  square.  This  area  is  surrounded 
by  a  very  massive  and  high  wall  of  stone.  The  open 
space,  therefore,  immediately  surrounding  the 
mosque,  is  large.  There  is  another  building  in  the 
south-east  corner  of  the  inclosure — the  El  Aksa 
Mosque. 

The  principal  building,  the  Mosque  of  Omar, 
occupies  the  very  spot  on  which  the  Temple  of  Solo- 
mon stood.  Of  this  there  can  be  no  reasonable 
doubt.  It  is  the  site,  also,  where  a  very  old  tradi- 
tion locates  the  offering  of  Isaac  ;  but,  of  course,  this 
is  wanting  in  any  historical  proof,  though  it  is  likely 


358  JERUSALEM. 

that  that  great  transaction  took  place  hereabouts,  if 
not  at  this  exact  place. 

A  very  large  paved  area  surrounds  the  Temple, 
the  pavement  being  of  squares  of  dressed  limestone. 
The  building  is  an  octagon,  the  wall  being  of  lime- 
stone. Above  the  octagon  is  a  circular  story,  and 
that  is  surmounted  by  the  dome  which  is  celebrated 
over  the  whole  world,  both  for  its  great  size  and 
beauty  of  design,  as  well  as  for  the  wonderfully 
gorgeous  ornamentation  of  the  interior.  On  the  out- 
side of  the  story  that  the  dome  rests  on  there  is  a 
casing  of  blue  porcelain  tiling — at  least,  blue  is  the 
prevailing  color,  but  it  is  relieved  and  variegated  by 
other  colors. 

Inside  of  the  mosque  there  are  numerous  columns, 
extremely  massive,  mostly  of  marble,  of  rich  dark 
colors,  variegated.  A  few  of  them  are  of  porphyry. 
A  most  remarkable  thing  about  them  is  that  no  two 
are  alike.  They  differ  from  each  other  in  almost 
every  respect — in  the  sort  of  marble,  in  size,  and  in 
the  size  of  the  capitals. 

The  interior  decoration  of  the  mosque  is  indescrib- 
able. The  inlaid  work,  which  is  seen  everywhere,  in 
some  angles  of  light  sparkles  like  diamonds.  There 
are  elaborate  figures  in  inlaid  work  of  glass  fused 
with  gold.  The  process  is  this  :  gold-leaf  is  placed 
between  two  plates  of  glass,  and  the  whole  brought 
to  a  state  of  fusion  by  heat.  It  is  glass  which  is  as 
it  were  gold.  The  whole  of  the  interior  of  the  dome 
is  covered  with  elaborate  and  beautiful  figures  of  this 
sort  of  work  in  great  variety.  Even  below  the  dome 
on  the  inner  surfaces  the  work  appears  in  astonishing 


JERUSALEM.  359 

profusion.     Gorgeous  !     This  is  the  only  word  I  can 
think  of. 

It  is  supposed  that  the  top  of  the  hill,  which  is  of 
solid  rock,  was  oval  naturally,  and  that  it  was  leveled 
off  preparatory  to  the  building  of  the  Temple  ;  but, 
according  to  the  Rabbins',  there  was  one  part  of  the 
rock  left  at  the  original  elevation,  all  around  it  being 
leveled  down.  This  rock,  according  to  the  same 
authorities,  stood  in  the  Holy  of  Holies,  and  on  it 
the  Ark  of  the  Covenant,  shadowed  by  the  wings  of 
the  cherubim,  rested.  This  elevation  of  the  solid  rock 
remains,  standing  under  the  dome,  and  surrounded 
by  a  high  and  strong  railing.  I  say  it  remains ;  but 
a  good  deal  of  it  has  been  taken  off  of  late  years  by 
the  Mohammedans,  and  sent  off  to  remote  regions 
to  make  sacred  shrines  of.  From  this  rock  they 
affirm  Mohammed  ascended  to  heaven,  and  they  will 
prove  it  to  you  by  two  infallible  signs — the  first  is  a 
deep  indentation  made  by  his  foot  when  he  made 
the  wonderful  spring  that  propelled  him  up,  and  the 
second  is  in  the  form  of  deep  marks  made  by  the 
angel  Gabriel  in  his  tussle  with  the  rock  to  hold  it 
down,  for  it  did  its  best  to  follow  the  prophet  in  his 
celestial  flight.  The  finger-prints  of  the  angel  are 
very  deep.  The  skepticism  that  can  resist  all  this 
must  be  incorrigible ! 

There  is  also  here  under  this  great  dome  a  small 
cave  into  which  we  were  taken,  and  in  which  there 
are  two  small  structures  that  have  some  wonderful 
Mussulman  legends  connected  with  them.  Dr.  De- 
Hass  suggests  that  it  is  possible  that  Araunah  used 
it  for  storing  his  wheat  after  it  was  threshed  ;  for 
Araunah's  threshing-floor  was  on  this  hill.     We  had 


360  JERUSALEM. 

the  Doctor  with  us  in  visiting  the  mosque,  and  his 
presence  and  the  information  he  was  able  to  give 
were  of  great  value  to  us.  He  showed  us  traces  of 
passages  which  must  have  been  those  which  led 
from  the  Temple  to  the  Palace  of  Solomon,  which 
stood  on  the  southern  slope  of  the  same  hill,  and 
perhaps  the  very  steps  by  which  the  king  "  went 
up  "  from  his  own  house  to  the  house  of  the  Lord. 
His  long  and  careful  study  of  the  locality  has 
enabled  him  to  trace  marks  of  the  remains  of  the 
oldest  times,  which  are  very  striking  when  your 
attention  is  called  to  them  ;  but  which,  nevertheless, 
a  stranger,  passing  along  hastily,  would  be  likely  to 
overlook.  He  took  us  to  the  mouth  of  the  great 
reservoir  which  contained  an  abundant  water-supply 
for  the  Temple.  This  reservoir  was  cut  out  of  the 
solid  rock,  and  is  still  underground,  with  a  few  open- 
ings down  to  it,  at  different  places,  through  which 
the  water  was  drawn,  and  a  principal  one  in  which 
steep  steps  cut  in  the  living  rock  descend  to  the 
water's  edge.  It  is  several  rods  square  and  very 
deep. 

The  Doctor  also  explained  to  us  the  wonderful 
system  of  drainage  by  which  the  purity  of  the 
grounds  was  effectually  provided  for.  It  seems, 
indeed,  to  have  been  very  perfect.  Every  thing  was 
taken  off  by  channels  cut  through  the  rock,  with 
abundant  water  running  continually  to  bear  it  to  the 
Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  far  below. 

But  nothing  interested  me  more  than  what  are 
called  "  Solomon's  Stables,"  and  what  might  really 
have  served  that  purpose  very  well.  This  wonderful 
structure  is  under  the   eastern  part  of  the  Temple 


JERUSALEM.  36 I 

grounds,  and  consists  of  a  system  of  columns  and 
arches  springing  from  the  top  of  the  columns.  The 
purpose  they  served  primarily  was  to  extend  the  level 
space  of  the  Temple  area  far  over  the  brow  of  the 
eastern  declivity  of  the  mountain,  as  it  sloped  down 
so  rapidly  toward  the  chasm  of  the  brock  Kedron — 
which  is  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat.  The  stones  of 
which  these  columns  and  arches  are  constructed  are 
enormous.  The  line  of  columns  farthest  east  is  very 
high,  and  as  the  successive  rows  westward  stand  on 
the  side  of  the  hill  higher  up,  the  columns  become 
shorter.  The  tops  of  them  all  are  upon  the  same 
horizontal  line,  the  dome-like  arches  over  them  mak- 
ing a  solid  basis  over  which  the  Temple  grounds  were 
extended.  Indeed,  on  the  eastern,  or  lower,  side, 
there  is  another  set  of  pillars  and  arches  underneath 
that  which  I  have  described — very  massive — which 
serve  as  supports  for  those  above  ;  for  the  elevation 
on  thar  side  was  too  great  to  .be  reached  safely  by 
one  set  of  pillars.  These  substructions  of  the  pave- 
ment of  the  Temple  area,  as  it  was  extended  out 
over  the  steep  slope  of  Mount  Moriah  toward  the 
Kedron,  are  very  grand  in  their  massiveness,  and  one 
gets  an  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  the  work  of  build- 
ing the  Temple  when  he  sees  them.  The  Temple 
itself  was  not  a  very  large  building,  but  the  walls 
around  the  large  open  area  in  which  it  stood,  the 
pavement  that  surrounded  it,  and  the  substructions, 
all  of  stones  of  great  size,  constitute,  all  taken  to- 
gether, a  work  of  stupendous  proportions.  I  never 
before  felt  the  force  of  the  simple  statement  that  the 
structure  was  made  of  "  great  sto?ies  and  hewn  stones" 
for  while  many  of  the  stones  are  of  great  size  the  fit- 


362  JERUSALEM. 

ting  and  adjustment  of  them  are  very  perfect.  There 
has  been  no  such  work  done  here  since.  In  the  Ro- 
man period  there  were  splendid  palaces,  and  Herod's 
extension  of  the  Temple  was  very  large  and  mag- 
nificent, but  the  stupendous  blocks  used  in  the  first 
instance  have  no  fellows  in  the  later  work.  The 
Saracens,  too,  have  built  splendidly,  but  they  have 
done  no  work  that  for  grandeur  of  conception,  or 
Titanic  power  of  execution,  can  begin  to  compare 
with  that  of  the  old  Phoenician  architects  to  whom 
these  great  structures,  no  doubt,  owe  their  grandeur. 
Whenever  an  old  stone  has  been  found,  coming  down 
from  that  period,  and  built  into  a  modern  wall,  it 
shames  the  puny  execution  of  the  moderns,  and 
where  a  section  of  an  old  wall  still  stands  it  presents 
a  massy  front  which  inspires  the  beholder  with  awe. 

At  the  Russian  Hospice,  outside  the  wall,  in  the 
excavations  made  preparatory  to  building,  a  mon- 
strous unfinished  column  was  unearthed,  which  rivals 
in  size,  though  not  in  length,  the  great  obelisks  of 
Egypt.  It  was  cut  out  of  the  native  rock,  but  seems 
to  have  been  broken  before  it  was  finished,  and  there- 
fore abandoned.  It  was  covered  only  to  the  depth 
of  a  few  feet,  and  the  Russians,  with  great  good 
taste,  when  they  discovered  it,  laid  it  entirely  bare, 
and  walled  the  excavation  in  a  substantial  manner, 
so  as  to  preserve  it  from  being  again  concealed. 
There  it  lies,  a  dumb  witness  of  the  unknown  Titans 
whose  astonishing  architectural  achievements  have 
dropped  out  of  all  written  history. 

But  no  traces  of  the  oldest  masonry  about  the 
city  interested  us  more  than  those  laid  bare  in  the 
excavations  made  about  the  "  Bishop's  School,"  an 


JERUSALEM.  363 

institution  of  the  English  Church.  It  lies  on  the 
south  side  of  the  city,  outside  of  the  wall,  on  the 
descent  into  the  Valley  of  Hinnom.  In  the  exca- 
vations made  to  get  a  foundation,  and  make  a 
little  level  space  about  the  building,  a  section  of  the 
old  wall  was  found,  deeply  covered  by  the  debris  of 
ages.  Some  portions  of  it  were  found  where  the 
wall  had  been  bodily  toppled  over  by  some  amazing 
force,  and  the  stones  were  rebuilt  into  an  outer  wall 
connected  with  the  school.  The  line  of  wall  was  fol- 
lowed for  some  distance.  It  evidently  took  in  the 
whole  of  the  point  of  the  mountain  projecting  down 
to  the  junction  of  the  Gihon  and  Kedron,  or  at  least 
as  far  as  the  pool  of  Siloam.  On  this  part  of  the 
old  city  prophetic  malediction  has  taken  effect  in  the 
most  liberal  way.  It  is  left  out  of  the  modern  wall, 
and,  precipitous  as  the  ground  is,  it  is  under  the 
plow,  and  on  a  great  part  of  it  the  wheat,  in  full  head, 
is  waving  to  the  winds  while  I  write  this. 

But  I  introduced  this  matter  for  the  purpose  of 
remarking  upon  the  character  of  the  work.  I  can 
scarcely  believe  that  it  was  the  work  of  the  Jebu- 
sites,  though  Dr.  DeHass  inclines  to  that  opin- 
ion, and  certainly  if  it  be  so  it  will  explain  the 
singular  fact  that  after  all  the  surrounding  country 
had  been  occupied  by  the  warlike  tribes  of  Judah 
and  Benjamin,  the  Jebusites  maintained  themselves 
in  this  stronghold  for  four  centuries.  Below  the  wall 
the  deep  escarpment  in  the  solid  rock  descends  to  a 
depth  of,  perhaps,  fifty  feet,  on  the  face  of  the  moun- 
tain. With  the  means  of  assault  then  in  use,  the 
wonder  is,  not  that  it  held  out  so  long,  but  that  it 
was  ever  taken  at  all. 


364      .  JERUSALEM. 

Just  at  the  foot  of  the  wall,  where  it  rests  on  the 
escarpment,  two  baths  were  made  in  the  solid  rock, 
and  even  now  they  contain  two  or  three  feet  of 
water.  Just  along  the  upper  edge  of  the  solid  rock 
a  gutter  was  cut,  evidently  for  the  purpose  of  saving 
the  water  that  fell  in  the  rainy  season.  Stairways,  to 
a  dizzy  height,  were  cut  in  the  living  rock ;  and 
when  they  were  laid  bare  a  few  years  ago,  after  hav- 
ing been  covered  up  for  nearly  two  thousand  years, 
they  wrere  deeply  worn  by  the  friction  of  human  feet. 
The  soldiers  that  garrisoned  Jerusalem  had  been 
ascending  and  descending  here  for  more  than  a  thou- 
sand years  before  the  birth  of  our  Lord.  I  could 
not  resist  the  temptation  to  go  up  and  down  those 
steps  which,  perhaps,  the  "  mighty  men  "  of  David's 
invincible  army  had  trod,  and,  possibly,  the  intrepid 
Jebusites  before  them. 

One  is  perpetually  reminded  here  of  the  complete 
overthrow  of  the  ancient  city.  It  stood  before  our 
Lord  so  strong  in  its  impregnable  wralls,  with  its 
buildings  constructed  of  stones  so  immense  as  to 
defy  the  ravages  of  time,  when  from  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  over  against  it,  he  beheld  it  and  wept  over  it, 
that  one  would  have  said  it  must  stand  while  the 
hills  stand.  But  he  pronounced  those  quiet  words, 
"  Not  one  stone  shall  be  left  upon  another  that  shall 
not  be  thrown  down."  They  were  projectiles  from 
a  divine  catapult,  and  swept  the  doomed  city  into 
ruins. 

Even  the  modern  city,  dwarfed  in  contrast  with  its 
ancient  ruins,  presents  an  aspect  of  solidity  rarely 
seen  elsewhere.  There  is  very  little  wood  used  in 
any  of  its  buildings.     All  is  stone.     The  walls  are  of 


JERUSALEM.  365 

stone  ;  the  floors,  in  every  story,  are  of  stone,  resting 
on  solid  stone  arches ;  so  also  the  roofs.  The  very 
stairways  are  of  stone.  Even  now  it  is  a  wonderful 
city. 

*  One  fact  stated  to  me  by  our  Consul  took  me 
wholly  by  surprise.  This  city  of  the  Jews,  ruled  as 
we  all  know  by  the  Turks,  is  owned  by  Christians — • 
not  by  individual  Christians — but  by  Churches,  and 
mainly  by  convents.  The  house  occupied  by  the 
American  Consulate  is  rented  of  the  Armenian  Patri- 
arch, being  the  property  of  the  great  convent  of  that 
Church  here.  These  corporations  never  die,  and  so 
there  is  never  any  distribution  of  their  estates.  Prop- 
erty used  for  religious  purposes  is  free  from  taxa- 
tion here — Christian  as  well  as  Mohammedan.  But 
the  Christians  could  well  afford  to  pay  a  reasonable 
tax  on  their  Church-property  to  be  exempted  from 
the  loans  they  are  called  upon  to  make.  The  Pasha 
says  to  the  Patriarch,  "Lend  me  $100,000  for  the 
Government."  The  Patriarch  is  free  to  make  thtf 
loan  or  not.  But  he  knows  two  things — first,  that 
the  money  will  never  be  paid,  nor  any  interest  on  it$ 
and  secondly,  that  if  he  does  ?iot  make  it  he  will  soon 
find  himself  in  a  horrible  Turkish  prison.  He  will 
not  be  imprisoned  for  refusing  the  loan — not  at  all  1 
That  is  no  offense.  But  he  will  be  imprisoned  in  a 
filthy  hole,  and  in  the  company  of  the  vilest  crimi- 
nals, and  kept  there  from  year  to  year,  and  in  all 
probability  die  there.  It  will  be  given  out  that  he  is 
guilty  of  some  crime,  not  specified,  and  that  he  will 
be  brought  to  trial  soon — yet  he  will  suffer  on  for 
years,  while  one  thing  is  certain,  that  is,  he  will  never 
be  brought  to  his  trial.     Within  the  last  five  or  six 


j66  JERUSALEM. 

years  the  Greek  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  was  thrown 
into  prison  just  in  this  way,  when  the  American  Con- 
sul demanded  his  release.  I  believe  the  Consuls  of 
several  European  Governments  joined  in  the  demand. 
They  were  put  off  with  dilatory  replies.  The  Amer- 
ican Consul  went  to  the  prison  with  the  attaches  of 
his  office  and  the  official  insignia,  and  enforced  the 
demand.  But  the  Pasha  found  other  means  of  per- 
secuting the  venerable  ecclesiastic  and  securing  his 
removal.  His  successor  made  the  loan  of  course. 
The  despotism  of  the  Government,  and  the  infamous 
corruption  of  the  officials,  make  it  a  stench  in  the 
nostrils  of  all  enlightened  men,  and  European  ideas 
of  government,  and  even  American  ideas,  are  begin- 
ning to  spread  here.  Even  our  dragoman,  good 
Mussulman  as  he  is,  has  volunteered  to  express  his 
disgust  with  the  Turkish  Government,  and  his  opin- 
ion of  the  prosperity  the  country  would  enjoy  if  it 
were  governed  as  England  or  America  is. 

H.  took  great  pleasure  in  finding  all  the  various 
localities  about  Jerusalem  without  a  guide,  with  the 
aid  only  of  his  guide-book ;  and  although  it  occa- 
sioned some  loss  of  time,  and  in  one  instance 
necessitated  our  going  over  the  same  ground  a 
second  time,  I  did  not  object,  for  the  time  may  be 
well-spent  lingering  about  the  streets  and  suburbs  of 
the  city.  Besides,  your  guide  is  certain  to  annoy 
you  by  keeping  up  a  constant  gabble  about  his 
traditional  nonsense,  which  diverts  you  from  yovi' 
own  observations  and  reflections,  which,  no  matter 
wlio  you  may  be,  are  sure  to  be  infinitely  more 
rational.  It  seems  to  no  purpose  to  request  him  to 
he  silent,  for  isn't  he  paid  to  enlighten  you  on  all 


JERUSALEM.  36/ 

these  points?  and  whoever  knew  an  Oriental  who 
would  consent  to  receive  money  without  returning' 
the  full  value  in  service  ?  Except  when  we  had  the 
very  valuable  assistance  of  Dr.  DeHass  we  preferred 
to  be  alone.  We  also  discarded  horses,  and  saw 
Jerusalem  and  suburbs  on  foot.  Our  week  here  was 
a  laborious  one,  but  one  of  the  most  delightful  of  our 
lives.  In  one  of  our  tramps  we  went  to  the  junction 
of  the  Kedron  and  Gihon,  for  the  purpose  of 
determining  the  topography  of  the  remarkable 
gorges  formed  by  these  two  rivulets,  if  rivulets  they 
may  be  called,  for  no  water  flows  in  them,  except  as 
the  immediate  and  momentary  result  of  copious 
rains.  No  one  can  realize  what  a  stronghold  Jerusa- 
lem was  by  nature  until  he  sees  these  gorges,  and 
even  then  he  must  call  in  the  aid  of  his  imagination, 
for  the  ledges  of  naked  rock,  presenting  many 
perpendicular  faces,  have,  in  the  lapse  of  centuries, 
been  covered  and  rounded  over  by  the  rubbish 
thrown  out  of  the  city.  In  addition  to  these  topo- 
graphical observations,  we  desired  to  see  the  pool  of 
Siloam,  which  is  on  the  point  that  runs  dowa 
between  the  two  gorges  to  their  confluence.  We 
did  not  go  directly  to  the  point,  but  crossed  the 
Kedron  half  a  mile  or  more  above,  and  ascended  the 
bluff  on  the  east  side,  so  as  to  pass  through  the  vil- 
lage of  Siloa,  or  Siloam,  where  the  tower  fell  once 
on  eighteen  persons,  "  and  slew  them."  Seen  from 
the  other  side  of  the  Kedron  it  looks  like  a  cluster  -of 
houses  glued  to  the  almost  perpendicular  side  of  the 
mountain.  Only  one  continuous  street  runs  through, 
the  village,  and  that  is  very  tortuous,  making  many 
violent  angles  as  well  with  the  line  of  the  horizon  as 


$68  JERUSALEM. 

with  the  points  of  the  compass.  It  is  frequently  on 
the  plane  of  the  foundations  of  the  houses  on  the 
left,  and  of  the  roofs  of  those  on  the  right.  One 
wall  of  the  greater  part  of  the  houses  is  the  face  of 
the  rock  in  its  natural  position.  It  is  a  miserable 
Mohammedan  community,  which,  so  far  as  I  could 
see,  exists  only  for  the  purpose  of  breeding  boys 
with  uncommon  cheek,  even  for  Arabs,  to  run  in 
packs  at  the  heels  of  travelers,  plucking  their 
sleeves,  and  shouting,  "Backsheesh." 

When  Ave  came  to  what  we  supposed  was  the  pool 
of  Siloam,  we  soon  became  convinced  of  our  mistake. 
There  were  two  ruinous-looking  stone  structures, 
small  and  not  very  ancient,  and  a  well  of  water  con- 
nected with  one  of  them.  It  proved  to  be  what  is 
called  by  the  natives,  "Job's  Well."  Places  are 
named  by  these  modern  Arabs  without  rhyme  or 
reason.  We  had,  in  fact,  stumbled  on  the  ancient 
En  Rogel,  one  of  the  points  named  in  describing  the 
boundary  between  the  tribes  of  Judah  and  Benjamin. 
It  is  in  the  valley,  very  near  the  junction  between  the 
Kedron  and  Gihon. 

Consulting  the   guide-book    afresh,    we   took   our 
bearings,    and,    going   up   on   to   the   point   on  the 
Kedron  side  of  it,  we  found,  first,  what  is  called  the 
lower  pool  of  Siloam.     It  was  made  simply  by  build- 
ing a  dam  across  a  short  ravine.      It  is  now  dry,  a   d 
is,  in  fact,  in  cultivation.      Nearby,  and  just  at  tl 
base  of  a  cliff,  we  found  the  real  pool.      It  is  a  pit  50 
or  40  feet  long,  by  perhaps  15  in  width,  sunk  into  tr 
ground  to  the  depth  of  10  or  12  feet,  and  walled  with 
stone.    The  walls  are  perpendicular.     Short  portio 
qf  columns  are  still  standing  in  it,  which  were  one 


JERUSALEM.  369 

the  supports  of  a  beautiful  structure  which  sheltered 
it.  It  is  supplied  with  water  from  a  copious  spring, 
which  comes  out  at  the  base  of  the  cliff.  The  water 
in  the  pool  is  quite  shallow,  an  outlet  draining  it  off 
through  a  rock-hewn  channel  to  a  ditch  from  which 
it  irrigates  several  gardens  in  the  valley. 

I  doubt  not  that  in  our  Saviour's  time  the  pool  was 
under  a  roof  supported  upon  beautiful  columns,  and 
that  a  flight  of  stone  steps  led  down  to  the  water. 
I  could  but  imagine  the  blind  man,  led  by  the  hand, 
anxiously  approaching  and  washing  his  eyes,  to 
open  them  with  rapture  upon  the  deep  azure  of  a 
Judean  sky.  In  India,  and  especially  in  Egypt  and 
Palestine,  diseases  of  the  eye  and  blindness  are 
much  more  common  than  in  America.  At  every 
turn  you  meet  a  blind  man  led  by  a  boy.  "  A  blind 
man  sat  by  the  wayside  begging."  We  have  seen 
scores  of  them  sitting  flat  in  the  dust  on  the  side  of 
a  frequented  road. 

We  took  a  long  walk  one  morning,  going  out  on 
the  Damascus  road  a  mile  or  more,  to  Scopus,  the 
ridge  on  which  was  the  principal  camp  of  the 
Roman  army  during  the  siege,  and  following  the 
ridge  around  to  the  Mount  of  Olives,  with  which  it 
forms  a  continuous  chain.  From  one  point  in  this 
walk  we  got  our  best  view  of  the  city,  a  view  which 
showed  the  depression  of  the  Tyropcean  Valley 
throughout  its  whole  extent.  This  valley  was  once 
a  deep  gorge  separating  Mount  Zion  from  Mount 
Moriah,  but  is  now  so  nearly  filled  up  that  its  precip- 
itous cliffs  have  entirely  disappeared,  and  it  has 
come  to  be  a  gentle  depression  traversing  the  city  in 
a  southeasterly  course.     Looking  from  the  Mount  of 


370  JERUSALEM. 

Olives  you  see  the  city  across  this  valley,  and  lying 
on  both  sides  of  it,  so  that  the  line  of  vision  does 
not  reveal  it.  But  from  a  more  northerly  position 
the  eye  takes  in  the  whole  contour  of  the  area 
within  the  walls. 

In  the  same  walk  we  saw  a  little  farming  village 
on  the  slope  of  a  hill  to  our  left — a  very  unpretend- 
ing place  now.  Probably  it  was  always  so.  So  far 
as  I  know,  but  one  event  ever  occurred  there  to  give 
it  any  historical  importance.  One  man  was  born 
there  who  belongs  to  the  ages — the  Prophet  Jere- 
miah. It  was  "  the  city  of  Anathoth."  This  dis- 
covery was,  to  me,  a  pleasant  surprise,  for,  if  I  had 
ever  known,  I  had  forgotton  that  the  birthplace  of 
this  man  of  tears  was  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
the  wicked  city  whose  overthrow  he  lamented  with 
such  eloquent  effect  as  to  give  his  very  name  to  be 
the  descriptive  designation  of  that  whole  class  of 
literary  effusions — Jeremiad. 

From  the  same  point  we  had  one  of  our  best  views 
of  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  "  mountains  of  Moab."  No 
doubt  our  eyes  rested  upon  the  very  summit  from 
which  Moses  saw  the  Promised  Land  which  he  could 
not  enter.  There  he  died,  and  God  buried  him,  and 
"the  place  of  his  sepulcher  no  man  knoweth  unto 
this  day ; "  howbeit  the  Arabs  will  show  you  his 
tomb  on  this  side  of  the  Jordan — with  their  customary 
accuracy  and  veracity. 

On  Sunday,  in  the  morning,  we  heard  Bishop 
Gobat,  of  the  Church  of  England,  preach  a  sermon 
of  great  simplicity,  in  which  he  took  occasion  to 
lament  the  ritualistic  follies  that  are  creeping  into 
"  our  beloved  Church."     He    is   a   Swiss   by  birth. 


JERUSALEM.  37 I 

For  three  years  he  labored  in  Abyssinia.  His 
diocese,  he  informed  me,  extends  from  the  head  of 
the  Nile  to  the  mouth  of  the  Euphrates!  The  Bishop 
is  now  a  very  aged  man,  deeply  evangelical,  and 
ready  for  his  change,  which  must  soon  come. 

The  Rector  of  the  Church,  a  converted  German 
Jew,  made  an  announcement  that  interested  me.  It 
was,  as  nearly  as  I  can  recall  it,  in  these  words : 
"  There  will  be  a  meeting  in  the  lecture-room  of  this 
church,  at  half-past  seven  o'clock  this  evening. 
Bishop  Marvin,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  will  deliver  a  lecture. 
The  regular  evening  service  will  be  suspended." 
This  Rector  is  a  delightful  man,  full  of  the  love  of 
Christ,  but  trammeled  by  the  exclusiveness  of  his 
Church.  He  would  have  had  me  to  preach  in  the 
main  audience-room,  after  reading  the  service  him- 
self, but  our  Consul  had  told  him  that  he  thought  I 
would  enjoy  it  better  to  occupy  the  lecture-room, 
and  do  things  in  the  Methodist  style.  So,  at  the 
appointed  hour,  I  met  a  crowded  audience  and  lec- 
tured on  Rom.  iii.  31. 

On  Monday  morning  we  were  to  start  out  on  a  tour 
through  the  country.  For  this  purpose  we  had 
entered  into  a  written  contract  with  Solomon  Ali,  of 
Jaffa,  a  professional  dragoman.  He  was  to  furnish 
us  riding-horses  that  we  should  be  satisfied  with  after 
trial,  comfortable  tents  and  bedding,  and  first-class 
fare,  to  pay  all  necessary  backsheesh,  to  go  with  us  to 
such  places  as  we  might  desire,  especially  to  Jericho, 
the  Jordan,  Liar  Saba,  Hebron,  the  Pools  of  Solomon, 
Bethlehem,  Shiloh,  Shechem,  Nazareth,  the  Sea  of 
Galilee,    Damascus,   and    Baalbec,    terminating   the 


372  JERUSALEM. 

tour  at  Beyroot ;  and  we,  on  our  part,  to  pay  him, 
for  each  one  of  the  party,  a  pound  sterling  per  diem. 
The  contract  had  been  duly  attested  by  the  American 
Consul,  who  knew  Solomon,  and  assured  us  of  his 
efficiency  and  integrity.  So,  we  had  nothing  to 
do  but  to  mount  our  steeds  in  the  morning,  deter- 
mine where  we  would  camp  for  the  night,  ride  to  such 
places  as  might  be  practicable  during  the  day,  take 
lunch  at  a  convenient  point,  and  toward  nightfall  go 
to  the  place  of  encampment  to  find  the  tent  pitched, 
the  table  set,  and  a  smoking  dinner  ready  to  be 
served. 

Our  party  is  a  select  one,  consisting  only  of  three 
persons,  the  third  being  Mr.  Samson,  a  young  gen- 
tleman from  Virginia,  a  Presbyterian,  a  student  of 
divinity,  who  has  been  at  Leipsic,  in  Germany,  for 
three  years  devoting  himself  to  the  study  of  lan- 
guages, and  who  has  come  here  to  see  the  sacred 
places  of  Christian  history,  and  to  study  the  collo- 
quial, as  he  has  already  studied  the  classical  Arabic. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

IN  THE  SADDLE  AND  IN  THE  TENT. 

AILROADS  would  ruin  the  Holy  Land.  It 
seems  almost  a  pity  that  there  should  be  a  car- 
riage-road from  Jaffa  to  Jerusalem.  This  one 
region  ought  to  be  preserved  as  it  was  two  thousand 
years  ago.  The  scream  of  the  locomotive  would 
sound  almost  like  profanation  in  the  midst  of  these 
hills.     The  telegraph  is  bad  enough. 

It  is  actually  delightful — this  traversing  the  coun- 
try on  horseback  and  camping  out.  Our  baggage  is 
carried  on  pack-mules.  There  are  three  of  us,  and  it 
takes  seven  men  and  ten  horses  and  mules  to  get  us 
along.  The  men  are  the  dragoman,  a  waiter,  a  cook, 
three  mule-drivers,  and  Achmed,  who  goes  along 
with  us  on  a  pony,  loaded  with  our  lunch,  and  such 
articles  as  overcoats  and  umbrellas — in  short,  all 
such  things  as  we  are  liable  to  need  in  the  course  of 
the  day.  He  carries  all  this,  and  rides  himself  on 
the  smallest  horse  of  the  lot,  but  the  horse  is  a  mar- 
vel cf  endurance. 

The  principal  tent  is  a  very  large  one,  and  when- 
ever it  is  pitched  the  American  flag  floats  above  it. 
It  is  the  sitting,  dining,  sleeping-room.  The  smaller 
tent  is  the  kitchen,  and  I  suppose  the  dragoman  and 
some  others  sleep  in  it,  but  the  muleteers  sleep  under 
the  sky. 


374  SADDLE  AND  TENT. 

We  are  generally  on  the  road  early.  At  about 
noon  we  stop  under  an  olive  tree,  or  under  "  the 
shadow  of  a  great  rock,"  or  in  a  wayside  khan,  when 
Achmed  unloads  his  pony,  spreads  down  a  carpet, 
takes  out  three  tin  plates,  with  knives  and  silver 
forks;  and  produces  our  luncheon.  This  consists, 
usually,  of  cold  roast  mutton,  cold  boiled  chicken, 
good  light  bread,  cold  boiled  eggs,  with  the  requi- 
site condiments,  besides  figs  or  raisins,  nuts  and 
oranges. 

The  time  of  getting  into  camp  varies  with  the 
length  of  the  day's  journey.  The  baggage  train 
always  precedes  us,  and  on  arrival  we  find  our  tent 
pitched,  with  our  personal  baggage  in  it,  three  pew- 
ter wash-bowls,  half  full  of  water,  standing  outside, 
with  snowy  towels  hanging  near,  and  three  iron- 
framed  cots,  having  the  mattresses  already  laid,  with 
pillow,  blanket,  and  clean  sheets — positively  beckon- 
ing us,  as  it  were,  to  a  siesta.  At  six  o'clock,  din- 
ner comes — soup,  the  most  delicious,  roast  mutton, 
chicken,  variously  prepared,  vegetables,  well  cooked, 
pudding,  fruits  and  nuts,  all  served  on  elegant  china, 
with  change  of  plates  with  each  variety.  What 
think  you  of  that  for  a  pilgrim  ? 

Our  employes  are  all  good-natured  and  accom- 
modating. In  the  evening  we  have  a  busy  scene  of 
cooking,  currying  horses  and  mules,  feeding  them, 
and  other  camp  duties.  After  running  loose  and 
grazing  for  a  time  the  mules  and  horses  are  fastened. 
This  is  done  in  a  peculiar  way.  A  rope  is  drawn 
along  on  the  surface  of  the  ground,  stretched  tight, 
and  fastened  down  at  several  points  by  pegs.  To 
this  the  animals  are  tied  by  halters.     They  eat  their 


SADDLE  AND  TENT.  375 

grain  in  sacks.  On  each  side  of  the  sack's  mouth  a 
piece  of  rope  is  fastened,  and  then  tied  to  the  head- 
stall of  the  halter.  These  are  so  short  that  they 
keep  the  nose  in  the  sack,  so  that  there  is  no  waste 
of  grain. 

Our  companionship  in  the  tent  is  most  delightful. 
We  talk  over  scenes  connected  with  each  place  we 
visit,  and  find  great  pleasure  in  following  up  the 
migrations  of  the  Patriarchs,  the  adventures  of 
heroes,  and,  above  all,  the  footsteps  of  the  Lord,  who, 
among  these  hills,  "went  about  doing  good." 

Monday  morning  we  started  out.  Going  out  at  the 
Jaffa  Gate,  we  made  half  the  circuit  of  the  city, 
descended  into  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  crossed 
the  Kedron,  went  over  the  southern  shoulder  of  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  passed  along  by  the  village  of 
Bethany,  and  so  made  our  way  down  to  Jericho. 
For  many  miles  the  path — for  it  can  scarcely  be 
called  a  road — leads  down  a  canyon,  as  it  would  be 
called  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  with  bold,  limestone 
ridges  on  both  sides.  Down  this  canyon  David 
passed  when  he  fled  from  his  unnatural  son,  and 
along  the  declivity  of  the  ridges  ran  Shimei,  cursing 
and  throwing  stones.  The  narrative  has  a  most 
natural  and  life-like  import  when  one  sees  the  place. 
Along  this  same  way  our  Lord  went  up  on  his  last 
journey  to  Jerusalem  to  be  "  offered  up,"  after  heal- 
ing the  two  blind  men  at  Jericho,  and  bringing  salva- 
tion into  the  house  of  Zaccheus. 

Having  made  about  half  our  day's  ride,  we  crossed 
a  low  ridge,  where  there  are  the  ruins  of  some  old 
buildings.  This  is  the  traditional  site  of  the  Inn  of 
the  Good  Samaritan.     Here,  under  the  shadow  of  a 


2?6  SADDLE  AND  TENT. 

great  rock,  we  rested,  and  took  our  lunch.  We  were 
soon  in  the  saddle  again,  and  in  a  short  time  found 
ourselves  descending  another  canyon,  toward  the  val- 
ley of  the  Jordan,  or  rather  riding  along  the  moun- 
tain-side with  the  bottom  of  the  gorge  far  below.  As 
we  approached  the  valley,  looking  down  into  the 
deep  chasm  we  saw  a  little  water,  the  first  we  had 
seen  running  in  any  stream  since  we  left  the  banks 
of  the  Nile.  This  is  believed  to  be  the  brook 
Cherith,  from  which  Elijah  drank  until  it  failed  him 
in  the  drought. 

On  leaving  Jerusalem,  for  several  miles  you  pass 
in  sight  of  cultivated  fields  here  and  there,  but  as 
you  approach  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  the  hills, 
which  are  steep  and  rugged  all  the  way,  assume  more 
and  more  the  character  of  a  desert.  The  natural 
vegetation,  scanty  all  the  way,  becomes  still  more 
so,  and  cultivation  ceases  altogether.  Along  these 
lower  ridges  of  the  mountains  a  single  stratum  of 
dark  rock,  that  seems  to  be  of  volcanic  origin,  crops 
out  through  the  lime-stone  in  the  most  fantastic  con- 
volutions. Farther  down  it  appears  in  greater  masses, 
always  in  such  angles  and  positions  as  suggest 
the  presence  of  violent  forces  in  its  upheaval  and 
placement.  The  geologist  must  account  for  this 
most  singular  phenomenon — and  that  other  more 
amazing  one,  the  depression  of  the  valley  of  the  Jor- 
don  and  of  the  Dead  Sea.  From  the  Lake  of  Galilee 
down  the  valley  is  belozv  the  level  of  the  ocean,  and 
the  surface  of  the  Dead  Sea  is  more  than  1,300  feet 
below. 

"A   certain   man   went  doivn    from   Jerusalem  to 
Jericho."     I  shall  never  need  a  Commentary  again 


SADDLE  AND  TENT.  377 

on  this  passage.  With  the  exception  of  the  low 
ridge  of  the  traditional  inn  where  we  lunched,  we 
were  going  down,  down,  dozvn,  all  the  way,  till  we 
reached  the  plain  of  Jericho.  Jerusalem  is  near 
3,000  feet  above  the  sea-level,  and  the  Jordan,  at  its 
mouth,  1,300  below.  I  follow  Baldeker.  The  plain, 
where  the  road  enters  it,  some  two  miles  from  Jer- 
icho, is,  perhaps,  300  feet  above  the  Jordan,  so  that 
in  about  sixteen  miles  you  make  a  descent  of  near 
4,000  feet. 

Soon  after  entering  the  plain  we  came  upon  a 
flush  stream  of  water,  bordered  on  ail  sides  with 
verdure.  Following  it  a  few  hundred  yards  we  came 
to  the  point  where  it  bursts  from  the  earth  at  the 
base  of  a  low  hill.  It  is  called  the  Fountain  of 
Elisha,  the  popular  tradition  identifying  it  as  the 
spring  that  the  prophet  healed.  There  is  quite  a 
breadth  of  cultivation  here,  the  fields  being  irrigated 
from  this  stream.  The  cultivation  is  slovenly  in  the 
extreme,  and  yet  the  yield  of  wheat  is  generous. 
The  water  supply  is  sufficient,  if  it  were  properly 
husbanded  and  distributed,  for  the  irrigation  of  a 
wide  area,  and  in  that  case  it  would  furnish  food  for 
many  thousands.  When  Lot  looked  down  upon  it 
from  the  western  hills  it  was  like  the  garden  of  the 
Lord,  and  when  Joshua  invaded  it,  it  was  so  fruitful 
as  to  support  two  considerable  cities — Jericho  and 
Gilgal — the  former  of  which,  at  least,  was  a  walled 
city.  At  present  there  is  only  a  miserable  village 
here,  inhabited  by  a  few  families  noted  for  indolence 
and  indigence.  We  camped  near  the  village,  which 
is  about  four  miles  from  the  Jordan,  and  ten  from  the 
Dead  Sea. 


378  SADDLE  AND  TENT. 

In  the  morning  we  were  off  bright  and  early  for 
the  Jordan,  being  joined  by  another  party  that  were 
in  camp  near  by.  We  were  prompted  to  this — shall 
I  confess  it  ? — by  rumors  of  two  murders  and  several 
robberies  committed  near  the  river,  only  a  day  or 
two  before,  by  "the  Bedouins."  Besides  that,  a  man 
we  had  been  traveling  with,  and  who  had  made  an 
independent  trip  to  the  Jordan  under  the  escort  of 
two  Sheiks  and  a  dragoman,  came  to  our  tent  in 
breathless  excitement  to  tell  us  of  a  suspicious-look- 
ing Arab  who  had  appeared  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river  that  very  day,  while  he  was  bathing.  His 
Sheiks,  he  told  us,  "  were  dreadfully  scart,"  so  that 
he  was  obliged  to  cut  his  bathing  short  and  get 
away,  albeit,  as  he  assured  us  over  and  over  again, 
he  himself  was  "  not  scart  a  bit." 

Almost  every  one  is  disappointed  in  the  size  of 
this  river,  but  the  current  is  deep  and  rapid,  and  the 
volume  of  water  considerable.  My  two  companions 
bathed  leisurely,  and  we  got  away  without  so  much 
as  a  distant  sight  of  the  Bedouins.  All  the  country 
east  of  the  river  is  occupied  by  these  tribes,  which 
are  still  nomadic  to  a  great  degree,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  they  are  very  lawless.  All  who  travel  on 
that  side  have  to  secure  the  protection  of  each  one 
of  the  Bedouin  Sheiks  through  whose  lands  they 
pass,  propitiating  them  with  large  backsheesh. 

Having  seen  the  Jordan,  we  pushed  on  to  the 
Dead  Sea.  On  the  way  we  met  another  party,  when 
suddenly,  from  some  distance,  the  Arabs  of  the  two 
parties  dashed  toward  each  other,  putting  their 
horses  up  to  full  speed,  and  had  a  mimic  battle, 
firing  their  revolvers  and  careering  around  at  a  grand 


SADDLE  AND  TENT.  379 

rate.  It  was  really  quite  exciting.  Our  dragoman 
bore  himself  splendidly,  reigning  his  steed  hither  and 
thither  with  great  dexterity,  looking  superbly  fierce, 
and  firing  this  way  and  that  as  if  he  were  in  the 
midst  of  a  troop  of  Bedouins.     I  felt  proud  of  him. 

Here  we  are  at  last  on  the  sandy  beach  of  the 
Dead  Sea.  Now  is  my  time  to  bathe  !  I  had  been 
charged  by  knowing  ones  to  keep  my  head  out  of  the 
water,  and  to  be  careful,  above  all  things,  that  none 
of  it  should  get  into  my  eyes.  But  I  plunged  in, 
head  foremost,  and  got  my  eyes  full.  Well,  what  of 
it?  It  is  simply  strong  salt  water — that  is  all.  It  is 
quite  clear,  so  that  you  can  see  the  bottom  at  a  con- 
siderable depth.  People  are  beginning  to  bathe  in  it 
for  sanitary  purposes.  It  is  said  to  be  a  specific  for 
obstinate  cutaneous  diseases.  As  for  my  eyes,  the 
smarting  soon  ceased,  being  followed  by  a  pleasant 
sensation,  of  which  I  was  still  conscious  the  next 
day. 

The  water  that  dripped  down  from  my  hair,  as  it 
dried  upon  my  neck,  left  a  white  incrustation  of  salt, 
so  strongly  is  it  impregnated  with  chloride  of 
sodium. 

Our  camp  for  that  night  was  at  Mar  Saba,  an  old 
and  famous  Greek  monastery,  built  in  the  cliffs  of 
the  brook  Kedron,  in  the  mountains,  a  few  miles 
from  the  Dead  Sea.  The  gorge  of  the  brook  nere- 
is several  hundred  feet  deep,  and  the  cliffs  almost 
perpendicular.  The  monastery  is  of  very  irregular 
construction,  occupying  the  face  of  the  cliff  on  the 
right  side,  and  getting  a  foothold  on  the  successive 
ledges  as  it  can.  It  straggles  up  almost  from  the 
base  to  the  summit.     It  was  founded,    I   believe,  in 


380  SADDLE  AND  TENT. 

the  fourth  century,  and  has  many  old  manuscripts, 
supposed  to  be  very  valuable.  We  were  favored 
with  an  order  from  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  to  be 
admitted  to  a  sight  of  these  treasures.  On  applying 
for  the  privilege  we  were  shown  into  a  very  small 
room  where  there  are,  perhaps,  a  hundred  bound 
volumes  of  manuscripts  on  parchment.  They  were 
carefully  written.  The  beginning  of  each  book  was 
in  illuminated  character.  The  figure  of  the  fish  ap- 
peared every  here  and  there  in  red  ink  on  the  mar- 
gin.    The  ink  is  faded  very  little,  if  at  all. 

We  learned  afterward  that  we  had  been  cheated. 
The  great  collection  was  not  shown  us  at  all.  It  is 
in  a  large  room,  where  the  old  rolls  of  parchment  lie 
in  great  piles. 

We  have  had  soldiers  to  guard  our  camp  every 
night.  Here  one  of  the  monks  volunteered  to  assist 
the  soldiers,  and  gave  us  as  his  reason  that  he  was 
willing  to  stand  guard  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
some  meat  to  eat,  as  in  the  monastery  he  never  got 
anything  but  olives  and  vegetables.  Moreover,  we 
had  to  buy  water  of  the  monks.  They  have  ditches 
all  alone  the  mountain  sides  to  drain  the  winter  rains 
into  their  vast  reservoirs  for  use  in  the  summer. 
There  is  none  to  be  had  elsewhere  for  miles,  for  they 
are  in  the  desert  region  that  skirts  the  Dead  Sea. 
These  men  are  said  to  be  extremely  ignorant,  and, 
from  their  general  style  and  appearance,  I  can  well 
believe  it.  It  is  further  affirmed  that,  not  knowing 
the  value  of  the  manuscripts  in  their  possession,  they 
have  mutilated  many  of  them,  and  perhaps  destroy- 
ed many.  But  European  scholars  having  of  late 
years  sought   admission  to   the  library,   they   have 


SADDLE  AND  TENT.  *&l 

come  now  to  understand  that  it  is  really  a  treasure 
of  great  value. 

The  road  to  Mar  Saba  is  very  precipitous  and 
often  very  narrow.  My  horse  was  a  first-rate  fellow, 
with  a  touch  of  meanness  in  him.  Sometimes  the 
path  skirting  a  precipice  was  just  wide  enough  for  a 
horse  to  walk  in  ;  but  where  it  was  three  feet  wide, 
with  a  sheer  precipice  on  one  side,  he  would  persist 
in  walking  along  in  the  last  six  inches.  It  was  no 
use  to  rein  him  off,  and  I  soon  got  used  to  it,  and 
found  him  so  sure-footed  that  I  lost  all  concern. 
Our  horses  were  shod  with  plates  of  steel,  covering 
the  bottom  of  the  hoof,  and  having  only  a  hole  in 
the  center.  They  soon  wear  smooth,  and  it  seems  a 
mystery  how  they  get  along  on  the  smooth  rock  on 
the  mountain  side.  But  they  rarely  ever  slip.  It  is 
a  mystery  to  me,  but  this  really  seems  to  be  the  best 
sort  of  shoe   for  these  rocky  and  precipitous  roads. 

From  Mar  Saba  we  rode  direct  to  Bethlehem. 
This,  of  course,  was  a  point  of  supreme  interest  to 
us.  What  heightened  our  interest  was  the  fact  that, 
as  we  had  learned,  the  people  of  Bethlehem  are 
nearly  all  Christians.  There  is  also  another  Chris- 
tian town  near  by.  As  we  proceeded  westward  from 
Mar  Saba  we  soon  found  traces  of  increasing  vegeta- 
tion. We  were  passing  out  of  the  desert.  Flocks 
of  goats  tended  by  shepherds  appeared  on  the  hill- 
sides. In  a  short  time  cultivation  set  in — at  first  in 
patches,  and  then  increasing  in  breadth.  As  we 
approached  Bethlehem  we  were  both  surprised  and 
delighted  to  witness  signs  of  prosperity  and  industry 
beyond  anything  we  had  seen  before.  The  stone 
fences  are  all  kept  up  in  good  repair ;  the  terracing 


382  SADDLE  AND  TENT. 

was  extensive ;  olive  groves  were  numerous,  and 
green  fields  spread  out  in  various  directions.  It 
was  evidently  the  best  country,  naturally,  that  we 
had  been  in,  and  at  the  same  time  better  culti- 
vated. The  appearance  of  the  town  also  indicated 
thrift,  and  impressed  us  as  being  very  pretty. 
The  houses  were  of  a  better  class  than  any  we 
had  seen  outside  of  Jerusalem,  not,  I  think,  except- 
ing Jaffa.  To  be  sure,  the  place  owes  much  to 
the  zeal  of  European  Christians,  who  have  erected 
several  convents  and  schools  here.  These  buildings, 
being  large  and  in  good  style,  add  much  to  the 
beauty  of  the  place.  The  general  prosperity  is  aug- 
mented by  them,  as  they  increase  the  population  and 
furnish  additional  employment  to  the  people. 

But  while  much  is  due  to  these  circumstances,  we 
were  convinced  that  this  Christian  community  is  of  a 
higher  type  than  the  average  population  of  the  coun- 
try. Especially  the  women  are  of  a  higher  order. 
They  have  not  the  overworked  and  dejected  look  so 
common  among  the  women  of  the  country.  They 
seem  more  self-respecting,  and  are  not  so  meanly 
dressed;  they  have  a  fresher,  brighter  countenance, 
and  a  more  becoming  manner.  Another  thing  struck 
us  and  gratified  us,  that  is,  that  the  clamor  for 
backsheesh  is  not  so  universal  nor  so  persistent — 
indeed,  there  was  but  little  of  it  as  compared  with 
other  places. 

The  place  of  principal  interest  is  the  old  basilica, 
which  covers  the  traditional  site  of  the  stable  in 
which  the  Saviour  was  born.  According  to  this 
tradition  the  stable  was  a  grotto  in  the  side  of  the 
hill — and  this  is  not  improbable  ;  for  such  were  often 


SADDLE  AND  TENT.  383 

used  as  stables,  and  it  is  very  likely  there  was  a 
grotto  connected  with  the  village-inn  at  Bethlehem. 
These  caves  of  small  extent,  under  the  ledges  of 
limestone  that  crop  out  all  over  the  country,  have 
been  used  in  this  way  from  immemorial  times.  St. 
Jerome  gave  full  credit  to  this  tradition,  and  came 
here  and  lived  in  a  ceil  very  near  the  grotto,  and 
there  died.  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  believe  that 
this  is  the  very  place  where  our  Lord  was  born  ;  yet 
it  is  not  certain  that  such  is  the  case.  Even  if  it  is, 
the  natural  aspects  of  it  are  so  changed  that  it  does 
not  appear  the  same.  The  basilica  was  built  over 
the  grotto,  and  an  ornamental  approach  made  to  it 
from  each  side,  with  columns  beautifully  carved. 
The  sides  have  been  shaped  by  the  architect  and 
covered  with  rich  tapestry.  A  niche  has  been  formed 
in  which  they  affirm  the  Infant  was  born.  There 
lamps  are  kept  perpetually  burning,  and  the 
Greek  and  Latin  and  Armenian  Christians  alike, 
when  they  enter,  kiss  the  stone  floor.  Near  by,  only 
a  few  feet  removed,  is  another  niche  which  they  say 
is  the  manger  in  which  he  was  laid,  wrapped  in 
swaddling  clothes,  and  in  which  he  received  the 
adoration  of  the  wise  men  and  the  shepherds.  Here, 
too,  lights  are  always  burning,  and  here  the  stone  is 
kissed  by  the  ignorant  worshiper  with  as  devout  a 
feeling  as  if  there  could  be  no  doubt  as  to  its 
identity. 

We  were  shown,  also,  under  the  church,  the 
alleged  grotto  of  St.  Jerome,  where  the  pious  monk 
who  conducted  us  assured  us  there  was  no  doubt  the 
great  saint  had  spent  his  closing  years.  Near  by, 
ilso,  is  his  tomb. 


384  SADDLE  AND  TENT. 

There  is  no  doubt  about  the  great  age  of  this 
building.  It  dates,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  from  the 
fourth  century.  The  general  design  is  plain  and 
simple,  and  well  adapted  for  preaching — a  fact  which 
differences  it  from  Greek  and  Latin  churches  of  a 
later  period.  But  the  walls,  or  some  of  them  at 
least,  were  elaborately  ornamented  with  inlaid  work, 
in  which  groups  of  the  holy  family  and  of  the  apos- 
tles appear.  Whether  this  was  done  at  first,  or  was 
the  work  of  a  later  period,  I  do  not  know.  Only 
patches  of  it  now  remain,  the  greater  part  having 
become  so  injured  that  it  had  to  be  removed.  The 
figures  are  quaint-looking  and  old,  and  the  sections 
that  remain  contrast  strangely  enough  with  the  plain 
white  plaster  that  surrounds  them. 

A  Latin  (Franciscan)  and  a  Greek  monastery  have 
been  added  in  modern  times  as  wings  to  the  old 
basilica. 

Much  of  the  business  of  the  town  consists  in  the 
manufacture  and  sale  of  crosses,  beads,  and  other 
religious  ornaments.  A  native  merchant,  who  is  a 
Greek  Christian,  showed  us  much  attention,  going 
with  us  through  the  church  and  into  the  grotto, 
where  he  devoutly  kissed  the  stones,  and  then  turned 
us  over  to  the  monk  who  would  show  us  the  Latin 
part,  Before  parting,  however,  he  very  politely 
requested  us  to  visit  his  shop.  Whenever  a  man 
shows  you  the  slightest  attention  in  this  country  you 
may  know  he  sees  backsheesh  at  the  end  of  it,  in 
some  form — either,  under  the  disguise  of  business,  or 
as  a  direct  bestowment.  This  man  told  us  that  he 
had  been  at  the  great  Philadelphia  Exposition,  and 
that  the  boys    had  thrown    stones   at  him    on   the 


SADDLE  AND  TENT.  385 

streets  of  that  Christian  city.  For  once  I  felt 
ashamed  of  my  country — though,  truth  to  tell,  it  was 
not  the  first  time. 

We  walked  through  the  town,  and  went  into 
several  shops  where  the  people  were  making  beads 
and  other  trifles.  We  were  interested  in  the  sim- 
plicity and  efficiency  of  their  implements,  and  the 
great  rapidity  with  which  they  turned  off  their  work. 

At  one  place  we  stopped  a  moment  to  see  a  very 
simple  little  mill  grinding,  turned  by  one  horse.  We 
found  a  beautiful  woman  tending  it,  having  her  child 
with  her.  Both  mother  and  child  were  seated  on 
the  ground  just  outside  the  circle  of  the  lever.  She 
was  remarkably  fair,  and  turned  a  pair  of  most 
expressive  black  eyes  upon  us,  at  the  same  time 
pointing  to  the  child,  and  saying  backsheesh.  It  was 
one  of  the  few  instances  of  such  a  demand  being 
made  upon  us  here. 

Our  luggage  had  gone  by  a  more  direct  route  to 
Solomon's  pools,  only  an  hour  from  Bethlehem. 
Some  of  our  party  desired  to  visit  what  is  said  to  be 
the  cave  of  Adullam,  but  is  probably  not  really  so. 
Upon  inquiring  we  found  that  the  distance  was  too 
great ;  so  we  returned  to  our  camp,  taking  the  village 
of  Artas  in  the  way.  Here  we  enjoyed  an  unex- 
pected treat.  The  village  is  built  on  the  side  of  a 
long  ridge,  which  is  separated  from  another  ridge  by 
a  little  flat  valley  not  more  than  two  hundred  yards 
wide,  I  should  think.  For  quite  a  distance  the  valley 
is  perfectly  straight,  the  edges  being  sharply  cut 
against  the  foot  of  the  ridges.  The  limestone  ridges, 
with  slight  vegetation,  showing  masses  of  rock,  and 

having  only  a  few  patches  in  wheat,  which,  though 
13 


386  SADDLE  AND  TENT. 

thin  and  small,  offering  a  mitigated  verdure  to  the 
eye,  set  off  the  beauty  of  the  little  valley  to  perfec- 
tion, for  it  was  the  greenest  thing  we  had  seen  since 
we  left  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  Every  foot  of  it  was 
in  cultivation,  so  that  it  formed  a  strip  of  luxuriant 
verdure  between  the  barren  hills.  It  was  a  thing  of 
beauty  that  I  can  never  forget. 

Above  Artas  the  valley  divides,  and  becomes 
wider,  though  the  fields,  while  they  are  larger,  are 
less  luxuriant.  On  one  branch  of  it  are  the  famous 
Pools  of  Solomon.  There  are  three  of  them,  situ- 
ated one  above  another  along  the  course  of  the  val- 
ley. They  are  fed,  it  is  said,  by  several  springs,  but 
especially  by  a  very  flush  one,  which  is  taken  from 
the  side  of  the  mountain  above,  first  into  a  small 
basin,  and  then  by  an  underground  channel  into  a 
shallow  well,  from  which  it  is  drained  into  the  upper 
pool.  In  addition  to  these  perennial  sources,  it  is 
supposed  that  formerly  they  were  filled  during  the 
rainy  season  to  their  full  capacity.  They  are  very 
large  and  deep,  and  the  perpendicular  sides  are 
lined  with  stone  walls. 

Some  suppose  they  were  built  by  Solomon,  as  he 
mentions  pools  that  he  had  made,  in  Ecclesiastes, 
and  perhaps  in  the  Canticles.  Others  assign  their 
construction  to  a  later  date.  They  are  only  about  six 
miles  from  Jerusalem,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
they  were  originally  intended  to  supply  the  city  with 
pure  water.  A  wonderful  conduit  connects  them 
with  the  city.  This  conduit  is  made  of  stones, 
actually  bored  through,  the  bore  being  perhaps  six 
or  eisrht  inches  in  diameter,  and  the  stones  fitted  into 
each  other  so  as  to  be  water-tight,  after  the  fashion 


SADDLE  AND  TENT.  38/ 

of  joining  the  sections  of  a  water-pipe  in  our  day. 
The  conduit  thus  formed  was  laid  in  rubble-work 
with  a  cement  that  remains  perfect  to  this  day.  It 
passes  over  the  tops  of  the  intervening  hills,  which 
are  much  higher  than  the  pools,  and  so  conveyed 
the  water  to  the  city  on  the  syphon  principle.  It 
was  a  wonderful  work,  no  matter  who  did  it.  It  is 
now  broken  at  one  place,  so  as  to  be  useless. 

Herod  constructed  another  conduit  from  the  pools 
along  the  ridge  above  the  valley  of  Artas,  and  so  on 
to  Bethlehem.  This  descends  by  a  slight  grade  all 
the  way,  and  still  flows,  being  open  at  short  intervals, 
and  tapped  at  several  points  for  purposes  of  irriga- 
tion. 

After  a  delightful  swim  in  the  middle  pool,  we  had 
a  choice  dinner,  spent  two  or  three  hours  in  writing, 
and  then  slept  profoundly  till  five  o'clock,  when 
we  were  roused  for  an  early  breakfast  and  a  long 
ride. 

We  must  see  Hebron,  where  the  bones  of  the 
patriarchs  lie  in  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  which  Abra- 
ham bought  of  the  sons  of  Heth,  "  for  a  possession  of 
a  burying-place,"  when  Sarah  died,  and  he  must 
needs  "  bury  his  dead  out  of  his  sight."  There 
seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  the  mosque  in  Hebron 
covers  this  very  cave.  Christians  are  never  per- 
mitted to  enter  this  building  except  on  the  author- 
ity of  a  special  firman  from  the  Sultan.  Even  then 
they  cannot  see  the  inner  sanctuary,  and  as  to  the 
cave  itself,  it  is  entered  by  no  one. 

Stanley  and  other  distinguished  archaeologists  are 
of  opinion  that  if  the  cave  is  ever  opened  the  em- 
balmed body  of  Jacob  will  be  found  in  it. 


388  SADDLE  AND  TENT. 

A  good  many  Jews  have  recently  settled  here,  and 
built  a  synagogue,  and  there  are  a  few  Christians, 
but  the  great  mass  of  the  people  are  Mussulmans  of 
the  most  bigoted  class.  As  we  rode  out  of  the  city 
some  rude  boys  cursed  us,  and  threw  pebbles  after 
us,  reminding  us  of  the  boys  of  Philadelphia.  One 
of  the  pebbles  struck  me  on  the  shoulder,  but  it  was 
so  small  as  not  to  inflict  any  bruise. 

As  we  approached  the  city  we  saw  large  vine- 
yards, on  the  very  ground,  may  be,  from  which  the 
Eshcol  clusters  were  taken.  The  country  still 
abounds  in  grapes.  The  marks  of  industry  here 
reminded  us  of  the  neighborhood  of  Bethlehem, 
though  there  are  no  such  recent  improvements  here 
as  there. 

I  ought  to  have  said  that  in  the  city  we  visited  a 
large  pool,  walled  with  stone,  which  they  call  the 
Pool  of  Abraham. 

A  mile  or  so  from  town"  we  visited  the  great  oak 
which  they  call  Abraham's  oak.  It  is  certainly  very 
near  the  spot  where  Abraham's  tent  was  pitched 
under  the  oak  of  Mamre.  Just  above  the  oak  there 
is  a  ridge  from  which  the  "vale  of  Sodom"  may  be 
seen — the  only  point  in  all  this  region  from  which  it 
is  visible.  There,  no  doubt,  the  patriarch  stood 
when  he  saw  the  smoke  of  the  burning  cities  of  the 
plain. 

The  Russians  have  bought  quite  an  extensive  tract 
of  land  embracing  this  old  tree,  and  are  building  a 
large  monastery  near  it.  The  tree  they  have  sur- 
rounded with  a  strong  wall  of  stone.  Under  its  long 
lateral  branches,  too  heavy  for  their  strength,  they 
have   set   props.     One   of   these   great   branches  is 


SADDLE  AND  TENT.  389 

dead,  and    the   tree   itself  must   soon    perish.      We 
plucked  a  few  of  its  leaves. 

Near  it  we  passed  along  an  extremely  narrow  lane 
between  two  stone  fences,  five  feet  high,  built  of  the 
loose  stone  so  abundant  here.  The  corners  and 
angles  protrude  suggestively  from  the  perpendicular 
wall.  If  it  had  been  a  hundred  miles  east,  over  in 
Moab,  I  should  have  said  that  it  was  the  very  place 
where  Balaam  got  his  foot  crushed.  If  he  had  noth- 
ing but  sandals  on,  as  I  suppose  was  the  fact,  and 
his  foot  was  pressed  against  one  of  these  angles,  it 
must  have  been  sadly  bruised.  It  was  very  provok- 
ing. No  ordinary  saint  would  be  likely  to  keep  his 
temper  in  such  an  emergency. 

We  returned  to  Jerusalem  that  night.  Within  a 
few  miles  of  the  city  we  passed  "  the  tomb  of 
Rachel."  Many  Jews  come  here  to  mourn.  We 
looked  in.  Lamps  were,  burning,  and  a  few  mourn- 
ers were  sitting  there,  some  mumbling  over  their 
books  and  some  eating  boiled  eggs  and  drinking  out 
of  a  bottle. 

The  sky  was  overhung  with  heavy  clouds,  but  as 
the  city  came  in  sight  they  parted  just  under  the  sun, 
as  it  stood  a  few  degrees  above  the  western  horizon. 
The  sun-burst  upon  the  green  fields  that  skirted  the 
road  made  a  striking  contrast  with  the  sombre  cloud 
and  with  the  heavy  shadow  that  fell  from  it  upon 
the  distant  mountains.  I  have  witnessed  death- 
scenes  where  the  gloom  and  the  glory  were  in  the 
same  near  contrast. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

BETHEL SHILOH NABLOUS. 

WHEN  we  returned  to  Jerusalem  from  Hebron 
a  strong  north  wind  was  blowing,  which,  to 
me,  was  distressingly  cold.  I  took  refuge  in 
the  hotel,  but  my  companions  slept  in  camp,  outside 
of  the  wall.  They  acknowledged  in  the  morning 
that  the  tent  had  proved  an  unpleasant  place,  the 
wind  was  so  strong.  For  two  days  it  remained 
quite  cool. 

Friday  morning,  April  13,  we  took  our  final  leave 
of  Jerusalem.  From  the  top  of  Scopus  I  had  my 
last  view  of  the  city.  I  paused  for  some  moments, 
gazing  upon  the  great  dome  of  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Sepulcher,  fixing  my  mind  on  the  sufferings  of 
our  Lord,  and  dismissing,  as  far  as  possible,  all 
thought  of  the  humiliating  fictions  that  a  fanatical 
credulity  has  attached  to  the  place,  and  the  super- 
stitious ceremonies  that  have  been  intruded  upon  it. 
"I  believe  that  He  suffered!"  and  think  it  likely  that 
his  sufferings  culminated  and  were  "finished'1  on 
this  hill.  With  such  thoughts  I  bowed  my  head, 
and  reined  my  horse  northward  on  the  Damascus 
road,  following  slowly  after  my  companions,  who 
had  gone  on.  I  shall  never  see  this  city  again. 
Shall  I  see  the  Jerusalem  above?  God  grant  it  in 
infinite  mercy ! 


BETHEL — SHILOH — KABLOUS.  39 1 

For  a  long  time  Neby  Samwil  raised  his  tower- 
crowned  head  on  our  left,  rising  above  all  other 
elevations  in  our  view. 

A  few  miles  from  the  city,  not  over  four  or  five,  I 
should  think,  we  passed  "  Gibeah  of  Saul."  This  was 
"a  city  set  on  a  hill,"  the  elevation  being  oval  and 
quite  high.  Some  old  ruins  remain.  The  ascent  is 
rather  difficult  on  horseback.  I  did  not  undertake 
it,  but  my  companions  were  more  adventurous,  and 
were  rewarded  by  a  grand  view  of  the  city. 

We  halted  for  once  at  a  village,  the  name  of  which 
I  do  not  recall,  where  we  saw  ruins  of  a  mediaeval 
building — a  church  no  doubt  built  by  the  Crusaders. 
Our  dragoman,  who,  so  far,  proved  to  be  a  fine  fel- 
low, proposed  to  us  that  we  should  have  our  lunch 
spread  in  the  village  khan.  The  others  objected. 
They  affirmed  that  it  looked  dirty,  and  was  no 
doubt  full  of  fleas,  to  all  which  I  made  no  reply,  for 
it  was  too  true;  but  I  was  resolved  to  see  life  in  as 
many  phases  as  I  conveniently  could.  It  was  a  little, 
nondescript,  one-story  affair,  partly  of  stone,  and 
partly  of  mud.  In  one  corner  was  a  middle-aged 
woman,  writh  a  kindly  face,  preparing  a  dinner  of 
herbs  by  a  handful  of  fire  in  a  brazier.  Near  her  sat 
a  young  man  in  faded  good  clothes,  whom  we  had 
seen  in  Jerusalem,  chatting  with  her  in  a  pleasant  way. 
Several  men,  just  like  all  others  of  the  common  class 
here,  were  sitting  about  the  door  outside,  talking 
very  loud,  and  smoking  the  nargile.  Our  lunch-car- 
pet was  spread  in  the  middle  of  the  floor,  and  we  fell 
to  work  upon  it  with  a  will,  whereupon  the  man  in 
faded  clothes  handed  us  a  paper.  Poor  fellow,  he 
was  of  a  genus  and  species  we  had  been  long  familiar 


392  BETHEL — SHILOH — NABLOUS. 

with.  Genus,  beggar;  species,  beggar  with  a  certifi- 
cate. The  certificate  was  from  a  missionary,  and 
stated  explicitly  that  he  knew  nothing  of  the  bearer. 
Some  things  in  Palestine  are  much  the  same  as  in 
America! 

We  reached  camp  early  at  Beteen — Bethel.  The 
present  village  is  not  supposed  to  be  on  the  site  of 
the  old  town,  but  in  the  near  vicinity.  Of  this  I  sup- 
pose there  can  be  no  doubt.  We  were  on  ground 
covered  with  sacred  memories.  Abram,  after  leav- 
ing "the  place  of  Sechem,"  had  pitched  his  tent  be- 
tween Bethel  on  the  west  side,  and  Hai  on  the  east. 
This  was  upon  his  first  entrance  into  the  country. 
To  the  same  place  he  returned  after  his  visit  to 
Egypt,  and  a  considerable  sojourn  at  Hebron.  Here 
occurred  the  quarrel  between  Lot's  herdsmen  and 
his.  The  pasturage  is  not  the  most  abundant  here- 
abouts, and  this  circumstance  might  possibly  have 
been  the  occasion  of  the  strife.  On  one  of  these 
very  hills  Abram  and  his  nephew  stood  when  they 
viewed  the  country  to  the  east  and  to  the  west,  and 
agreed  to  part  in  peace.  Here  Jacob  slept  on  that 
memorable  night  when  he  was  fleeing  from  his  angry 
brother,  and  took  of  the  stones  of  the  place  for  his 
pillow,  and  then  also,  in  the  morning,  to  build  an 
altar.  Stones!  there  is  little  else  but  stones.  The 
earth  is  made  of  mountains  here,  and  the  mountains 
are  made  of  rocks.  Ai,  near  to  Bethel,  and  east  of 
it,  was  the  next  place  taken  by  Joshua  after  Gilgal 
and  Jericho.  Bethel  played  a  not  inconspicuous  part 
in  the  time  of  the  Judges,  and  appears  occasionally 
in  later  history. 
•    Of  course  we  must  look  around  a  little  here.     We 


BETHEL SHILOH NABLOUS.  393 

rode  out  into  the  supposed  neighborhood  of  Ai,  and 
then  ascended  one  of  the  loftiest  eminences  in  sight. 
What  a  view  !  We  saw  all  the  lower  reaches  of  the 
Jordan  valley,  and  the  upper  end  of  the  Dead  Sea. 
At  the  same  time,  this  hill  must  have  been  very  near 
Abram's  tent,  between  Bethel  and  Ai.  It  was  the 
most  eligible  point  anywhere  near  from  which  to 
view  the  country.  Was  this  the  very  hill  on  which 
Abram  and  Lot  stood  when  the  patriarch  so  gener- 
ously gave  his  kinsman  choice  of  all  the  extended 
domain  in  the  scope  of  their  vision?  I  think  that 
very  likely.  From  the  general  lay  of  the  country,  I 
ventured  a  conjecture  as  to  the  route  by  which 
Joshua  came  up  from  Gilgal,  in  the  valley,  to  attack 
Ai  in  its  mountain  fastnesses.  But  of  course  that 
was  mere  conjecture. 

How  probable  and  real  the  incidents  of  Old  Testa- 
ment history  appear  to  a  man  who  studies  them  here 
where  they  occurred  !  Times,  distances,  situations, 
all  agree  in  the  most  evident  way  with  the  state- 
ments of  the  narrative.  Even  the  very  manner  of 
life  he  witnesses  tends  to  illustrate  the  historv. 
[What  an  odd  n  I  have  made  in  the  word  "tends"! 
The  Turkish  soldier  who  is  guarding  our  tent  for  the 
night  fired  his  gun  unexpectedly,  and  startled  me  a 
little.     It  is  nine  o'clock  p.  M.] 

The  next  morning  we  rode  on,  over  mountains, 
through  deep  ravines,  over  rocks,  rocks,  rocks,  In 
some  places  the  road  is  full  of  loose  stones,  in  others 
it  passes  along  over  the  solid  limestone,  which  is 
worn   into    ugly    holes    and    rut-  by  the    hoofs   of 

tig  over 

rhaps  f0Uf  thousand  jre&gpj      I  Vbr^» 


394  BETHEL SHILOH NABLOUS. 

ham  drove  his  flocks  and  herds  along  this  very  path. 
Probably  Esau  and  his  horsemen  rode  over  it  when 
he  went  to  meet  his  brother  at  Mahanaim,  and  again 
when  he  returned  to  Mount  Seir.  Jacob  also  proba- 
bly passed  over  it  with  his  flocks  when  he  left  Sechem 
and  moved  southward.  Kings  and  armies  passed 
over  it  many  a  time  afterward,  as  well  as  thousands 
of  caravans  from  Gilead,  from  Tadmor,  from  Damas- 
cus, from  the  Euphrates,  to  Jerusalem  and  Egypt. 
It  must  have  been  along  this  very  way  that  Saul  of 
Tarsus  passed  when  he  made  his  ever-memorable 
journey  to  Damascus. 

After  three  or  four  hours  we  made  a  deflection 
from  the  main  road  to  the  right,  to  visit  the  ruins 
of  Shiloh.  These  ruins  are  of  a  date  more  recent 
than  the  time  of  the  chief  glory  of  the  place,  though 
a  place  is  pointed  out  where  the  rock  was  leveled — 
such  is  the  tradition — for  the  tabernacle.  There  is 
no  special  material  beauty  in  the  situation  of  Shiloh 
or  its  immediate  surroundings,  to  designate  it  as  a 
place  of  religious  solemnities.  It  is  just  such  a  place 
as  might  be  found  anywhere  among  these  rocky  hills. 
But  one  thing  we  observed,  it  is  just  at  the  point 
where  the  general  character  of  the  country  begins  to 
change.  South  of  this,  except  the  Maritime  Plain — 
that  is,  the  Plain  of  Sharon  and  Philistia — and  the 
valley  of  the  Jordan,  there  are  no  valleys  proper — 
only  mountains  and  deep  gorges  between  them. 
The  valley  of  Artus  is  so  narrow  as  to  be  scarcely  an 
exception,  though  it  is  a  lovely  little  strip.  But  here 
at  Shiloh  there  are  fruitful  valleys  spreading  out  to 
something  like  respectable  proportions.  In  Judah 
and  Benjamin  all  cultivation  is  in  patches,  larger  or 


BETHEL-^SHILOH — NABLOUS.  395 

smaller,  on  the  mountain  sides.  But  here  in  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  the  son  of  the  beloved 
Joseph,  who  had  one  portion  given  him  above  his 
brethren,  the  "fair  valleys 'J  begin  to  appear. 

Returning  toward  the  main  road  by  a  rather  pre- 
cipitous way,  we  came  to  a  fine  large  oak  near  a 
spring,  where,  of  course,  we  would  lunch.  This  we 
did,  in  company  with  some  very  pleasant  English 
gentlemen. 

On  starting  again,  we  fell  in  with,  and  passed,  a 
small  train  of  mules,  two  of  which  were  loaded  with 
native  ladies.  A  singular  double-saddle  was  sus- 
pended across  the  mule,  so  that  one  lady  sat  on  each 
side  of  the  mule,  being  covered  in  on  all  sides  by  a 
curtained  frame.  Each  of  these  mules  was  led  by  a 
man. 

In  a  short  while  we  ascended  a  ridge  of  considera- 
ble elevation,  when  lo !  a  sea  of  verdure  lay  before 
us.  It  was  the  "  plain  of  Samaria,"  all  waving  with 
fine  crops  of  wheat,  just  in  full  head,  or  just  plowed 
for  later  planting  of  vegetables  and  sesame.  We 
have  seen  nothing  that  can  approach  to  this  since  we 
left  the  plain  of  Sharon,  and  indeed  the  wheat  is 
better  here  than  there — decidedly  so.  This  plain 
lies  between  bold  mountains,  being  probably  as 
much  as  fifteen  miles  long,  north  and  south,  by  six 
or  eight  wide.  These  dimensions  I  give  as  they 
struck  my  own  eye.  As  we  descended  toward  the 
valley  we  had  nearly  the  full  length  of  it  in  view,  and 
toward  its  northern  extremity,  on  the  left  side,  was 
the  bold,  precipitous  swell  of  Mount  Gerizim. 

Our  way  lay  for  some  distance  through  the  center 
of  this  valley,   but  as  we   neared  Mount  Gerizim  it 


396  BETHEL SHILOH — NABLOUS. 

inclined  toward  the  base  of  the  mountain.  Soon  we* 
saw  a  narrow  valley  running  up  on  the  north  side  of 
Gerizim,  due  west,  at  right  angles  with  the  valley  of 
Samaria,  through  which  we  had  come.  This  very 
narrow  valley  lies  between  Gerizim  and  another 
mountain  equally  lofty  and  precipitous  on  the  north 
side  of  it.  I  need  scarcely  say  that  this  is  Mount 
Ebal.  Before  we  turned  to  the  left  into  this  small 
valley,  our  attention  was  called  to  a  point  near  the 
mouth  of  it,  but  properly  in  the  larger  plain.  It  was 
Jacob's  well,  in  the  parcel  of  ground  which  he  gave 
to  his  son  Joseph.  On  riding  to  it  we  found  it  in  a 
state  of  utter  neglect.  The  earth  at  the  top  is  much 
fallen  in,  and  a  stone  lay  en  the  opening  of  it  where 
it  enters  the  rock.  We  had  all  promised  ourselves 
a  drink  out  of  it,  and  one  of  the  party  had  a  bottle, 
in  which  he  was  going  to  carry  some  of  it  home. 
But  alas !  it  was  dry.  I  imagine  it  is  filled  up  a 
good  deal  with  rubbish.  The  winter  rains  some- 
times fill  it,  but  now,  even  so  early  in  the  season  as 
the  middle  of  April,  it  is  empty. 

Half  a  mile  to  the  north-west  is  Joseph's  tomb. 
Some  eminent  archaeologists  are  disposed  to  accept 
this  tomb  as  being  genuine — not,  of  course,  as  the 
old  building,  but  one  occupying  the  same  spot.  It  is 
a  very  plain  structure,  consisting  of  four  walls,  with- 
out a  roof,  and  an  oval  tomb  inside  standing  diago- 
nally with  the  line  of  the  walls.  The  whole  structure 
was  much  dilapidated,  until  within  a  few  years  past 
an  English  gentleman  had  it  put  in  repair  at  his  pri- 
vate expense. 

From  Joseph's  tomb,  we  turned  up  the  valley 
already  mentioned  as  separating  Ebal  from  Gerizim, 


BETHEL — SHILOH — NABLOUS.  397 

and  riding  about  two  miles  came  to  the  city  of 
Nablous,  which  occupies  the  place  of  the  old  She- 
chem.  The  modern  city  was  built  by  Vespasian, 
who  gave  it  the  Greek  name  Neapolis,  which  in  the 
native  speech  has  been  corrupted  into  Nablous,  as 
the  same  name  in  Italy  has  been  shortened  into 
Naples.  The  old  Shechem,  it  is  supposed,  stood  to 
the  eastward  of  the  present  city  about  one  mile. 

A  stream  of  living  water,  fed  by  numerous  springs, 
runs  through  this  little  valley,  so  that  the  water-sup- 
ply is  abundant  and  accessible.  The  valley  at  the 
narrowest  part  I  take  to  be  about  half  a  mile  wide. 
Farther  in  it  is  considerably  wider.  It  is  covered 
with  wheat,  in  full  head  now,  most  of  which  is  very 
heavy.  From  the  edges  of  the  valley  the  mountains 
rise  to  their  full  height  of  over  two  thousand  feet  so 
precipitously  as  to  render  the  ascent  impracticable, 
or  nearly  so,  except  by  a  circuitous  way,  though 
some  of  our  party  ventured  to  descend  at  the  steepest 
point  of  Mount  Gerizim,  after  having  gone  up  by  the 
easier  path. 

Our  camp  had  been  pitched  on  the  west  side  of 
the  city,  and  in  approaching  it  we  passed  through 
the  principal  street,  which  is  paved  with  square 
blocks  of  limestone  of  different  dimensions  and 
somewhat  irregular  surface.  These  stones  are  worn 
so  smooth  by  the  human  feet  that  have  been  coming 
and  going  over  them  for  centuries,  that  I  looked 
every  moment  for  my  horse  to  slip  and  fall,  but  the 
whole  party  passed  through  in  safety.  Nothing 
worse  befell  us  than  the  shouting  of  Mussulman  boys 
in  our  rear,  "  Xassara  !  Nassara !  u  How  the  little 
infidels  would  have  enjoyed  it  if  one  of  our  horses 


39^  BETHEL SHILOH — NABLOUS. 

had    come    down    and   brought   his   rider   sprawling 
upon  the  ground ! 

It  was  Saturday  evening,  and  we  remained  in 
camp  here  over  Sunday.  I  have  uniformly  abstained 
from  sight-seeing  on  the  Lord's  day,  but  in  this 
instance  I  felt  that  it  would  be  in  keeping  with  the 
spirit  of  the  day  to  ascend  Mount  Gerizim.  Accord- 
ingly, our  little  party  started  out  with  a  guide,  going 
first  to  the  Samaritan  synagogue,  where  we  met  the 
high-priest.  This  building  is  quite  removed  from  the 
principal  thoroughfare,  being  situated  on  the  foot  of 
the  sacred  mountain,  the  approaches  being  by 
"ways  that  are  dark,"  the  streets  being  very  nar- 
row, and  some  of  them  arched  over  for  considerable 
distances.  The  synagogue  itself,  when  we  reached 
it,  we  found  to  be  a  small  building,  very  plain,  with 
uninviting  surroundings.  There  is.  a  small,  open, 
paved  court  in  front  of  it,  closely  surrounded  with 
other  buildings,  in  the  center  of  which  in  an 
unpaved  area  of  four  or  five  feet  square,  are  three 
small  orange  trees.  The  synagogue  itself  is  small, 
the  floor  being  covered  with  carpeting,  except  a  nar- 
row strip,  a  foot  lower  than  the  rest,  just  inside  of 
the  door.  The  general  plan  of  the  interior  is 
nearly  square,  with  a  recess  to  the  left  at  the  farther 
end. 

We  found  the  high-priest  a  polite  man,  and  rather 
fine-looking.  He  would  have  admitted  us  freely  into 
his  little  sanctuary,  if  we  would  have  "  taken  our 
shoes  from  off  our  feet,"  which  wre  did  not  choose  to 
do.  But  we  stood  on  the  strip  of  naked  stone,  just 
inside,  while  the  priest  brought  us  "  the  Book  of  the 
Law,"  an  old  parchment,  rolled  up  after  the  primitive 


BETHEL SHILOII XABLOUS.  399 

manner,  and  kept  in  a  cylindrical  metallic  case, 
which  opened  on  one  side,  having  hinges  on  the 
other.  The  case  itself  was  covered  with  a  cloth  of 
wrought  silk.  This  book  is,  as  I  understand  it,  in  the 
Samaritan  text.  We  told  him  we  understood  that  he 
was  in  possession  of  a  very  ancient  copy  of  the  Law, 
and  asked  him  if  this  was  it.  He  answered  frankly, 
no,  and  assured  us  that  the  oldest  copy  was  rarely 
exhibited  to  any  one.  But  after  a  brief  pause  he 
added,  as  I  was  a  bishop,  he  would  show  it  to  me. 
How  did  he  know  I  was  a  bishop  ?  That  is  more 
than  I  can  tell.  Then,  again,  was  it  genuine  respect 
for  the  Episcopal  office  ?  or  was  it  buncombe  for  back- 
sheesh f  I  cannot  tell ;  but  one  thing  I  do  know,  that 
is,  that  backsheesh  was  expected  and  paid.  But  my 
eyes  were  greeted  with  the  sight  of  that  old,  old  copy 
of  the  Pentateuch.  It  was  kept  in  a  case  like  the 
other,  only  this  case  was  covered  with  two  elegant 
pieces  of  cloth,  one  above  the  other,  and  was  itself 
covered  with  raised  figures,  on  one  side ;  one  being  a 
model  of  the  front  view  of  the  old  Temple  on  Ger- 
izim.  Beside  this,  there  was  Moses's  rod,  Aaron's 
rod,  the  altar  of  sacrifice,  and  several  other  of  the 
sacred  objects  contained  in  the  Temple.  The  cover- 
ings were  removed,  the  case  opened,  and  a  portion 
of  the  old  parchment  spread  before  us.  They  claim 
for  it  a  fabulous  antiquity,  and  some  good  linguists 
who  have  seen  it  believe  it  to  be  properly  referred 
to  a  date  about  coeval  with  the  Christian  era. 

I  have  devoted  so  much  time  to  this  topic  on 
account  of  the  singular  character  of  this  people. 
Here  is  a  little  knot  of  people  that  have  continued 
together  at  the  foot  of  Mount   Gerizim  through  all 


400  BETHEL SHILOH NABLOUS. 

changes,  maintaining  the  worship  of  the  ancient 
Samaritan  to  this  day,  and  preserving  with  the  most 
scrupulous  care  their  copies  of  the  Book  of  the  Law. 
For  many  ages  their  number  has  been  small,  and 
now  the  census  shows  but  forty  or  fifty  families. 
Yet  this  handful  of  men  cling  persistently  to  their 
traditions,  lingering  in  the  shadow  of  "  this  moun- 
tain"  in  which  "men  ought  to  worship,"  with  a 
tenacious  and  enthusiastic  attachment  that  the  ages 
have  not  been  able  to  wear  out.  Every  year,  at  the 
time  of  the  vernal  new  moon,  they  camp  out  on  the 
lofty  summit  of  the  sacred  mountain  for  a  full  week, 
and  kill  the  Passover,  eating  only  unleavened  bread, 
and  worshiping  the  God  of  Abraham  and  of  Isaac 
and  of  Jacob. 

We  were  told  that  the  synagogue-worship  would 
take  place  at  the  eleventh  hour — five  o'clock  p.  m. — • 
and  that  our  attendance  would  not  be  regarded  as 
an  intrusion.  It  was  an  opportunity  that  we  could 
not  afford  to  let  slip. 

Meanwhile  we  repaired  to  the  little  Baptist  Mis- 
sion, where  the  pastor,  the  Rev.  Mr.  El  Kari,  a 
native  of  Palestine,  but  educated  in  England,  was  in 
the  midst  of  his  sermon.  The  hearers  were  all  seated 
on  the  floor,  their  shoes  having  been  left  at  the  door. 
When  we  were  discoverd,  they  politely  drew  to  one 
side  and  the  other,  opening  the  way  for  us  to  pass 
through  to  a  settee  near  the  preacher's  stancj^-for 
pulpit  he  had  not,  The,  greater  number  of  auditors 
were  the  children  of  the  gunday-school,  but  the  few 
adult  persons  present  were  ^emarkat»ly  fine.*looking,; 
The  pa^to^  himself  hacj  §>$  fm<?  a  head  &nd  face  as 
you   will    see    In    %   BlpMh'f    travel.    The  cummuni 


BETHEL SHILOH — NABLOUS.  4OI 

cants  are  only  nine,  but  the  Sabbath-school  is  well 
attended,  and  the  Mission  is  a  handful  of  leaven  in 
the  meal. 

After  the  service  we  had  some  pleasant  chat  with 
the  pastor  and  his  intelligent  Liverpool  wife,  and 
saw  their  three  beautiful  children,  after  which  we 
made  our  way  toilfully  up,  up,  to  the  summit  of 
Mount  Gerizim.  On  the  very  top  we  found  wheat 
fields. 

There  are  some  very  massive  ruins  here,  and  some 
are  from  early  times — none,  however,  earlier  than 
Justinian.  But  a  rock  is  shown  on  which  it  is  said 
the  altar  stood.  I  doubt,  however,  if  this  is  worthy 
of  credence. 

But  we  had  a  grand  view  of  the  great  valley  of 
Samaria,  through  which  we  had  passed  the  day 
before,  and  of  the  valley  and  city  of  Nablous,  with 
the  "  rock-ribbed  mountains"  on  all  sides.  The 
green  and  fresh-plowed  fields  alternating  in  the  val- 
ley presented  a  scene  of  exquisite  beauty.  Only 
forests  were  wanting  to  make  the  landscape  as  lovely 
as  it  was  magnificent.  To  my  eye  no  landscape  can 
be  perfect  without  them,  and  they  are  nowhere 
found  in  Palestine.  There  are,  to  be  sure,  in  some 
places,  olive  groves  that  almost  amount  to  forests; 
yet  they  are  too  limited  and  artificial-looking.  Here 
and  there,  also,  fig-orchards  relieve  the  nakedness  of 
the  moimtaimsides  with  a  fresh  and  delightful  ver- 
dure ;  but  they  are  only  orchards,  The  free  forests 
that  nature  makes  are  not  here, 

The  time  had  now  come  for  the  accomplishment 
of  a  purpose        -  $ia€e  formed  by  H,  and  myself-* 

■  reading  of  the  blessings  and  purses,  respon^vely, 


402  BETHEL — SHILOH — NABLOUS. 

on  Mount  Gerizim  and  Mount  Ebal,  with  a  view  to 
ascertain  if  the  space  between  might  be  compassed 
with  the  human  voice.  We  had  detected  the  very 
spot  where  this  must  have  taken  place,  at  first  sight. 
There  is  no  mistaking  it.  There  is  a  natural  rock-pul- 
pit on  each  of  the  mountians  at  the  point  of  nearest 
approach  to  each  other — the  one  just  opposite  to  the 
other.  At  this  point  the  level  ground  is,  to  my  eye — 
for  we  made  no  measurements — about  half  a  mile 
wide,  and  from  the  edge  of  the  level  ground  to  the 
rocks  from  which  the  responsive  utterances  must 
have  been  delivered,  the  ascent  was  perhaps  a  quar- 
ter of  a  mile  on  each  side,  putting  the  two  at  a  dis- 
tance of  a  mile,  or  near  it,  on  a  straight  line. 

In  both  directions  from  this  point  the  valley 
widens,  so  that  a  countless  host  might  be  assembled 
in  it  and  on  the  foot  of  the  respective  mountains. 
The  man  who  sees  the  place  once  can  never  doubt 
as  to  the  question  of  room  for  the  people  to  stand, 
even  upon  the  supposition  that  there  were  three  mil- 
lions of  them  actually  present. 

Mr.  Hendrix  took  his  stand  on  Mount  Gerizim, 
and  Mr.  Samson  on  Mount  Ebal.  I  and  our  guide 
stood  in  the  valley  between,  when  the  reading  com- 
menced. Every  word,  every  syllable,  every  vowel, 
every  consonant,  pronounced  by  the  two  men 
reached  my  ear  distinctly,  except  a  sentence  or  two 
lost  in  the  noise  of  some  passing  travelers  on  the 
road — and  that  notwithstanding  a  current  of  wind 
against  the  voice  of  Mr.  Samson  who  was  the  more 
remote  of  the  two  from  my  position.  More  than 
that,  Mr,  Samson  heard  ev'^ry  word  from  the  other 


BETHEL — SHILOH — NABLOUS.  46^ 

side,  and  Mr.  Hendrix  heard  nearly  every  word  from 
Mr.  Samson,  though  the  wind  was  adverse. 

The  narrative  of  the  responsive  reading  of  the 
blessings  and  curses  here  has  been  criticised  as 
impracticable,  but  the  fact  demonstrates  that  it  is 
not  so.  Whether  it  is  the  dense  atmosphere  of  the 
narrow  valley,  or  whether  the  rock  walls  of  the 
mountains  act  as  a  sounding-board,  I  do  not  know; 
but  I  do  knozv  that  the  articulate  utterances  of  the 
human  voice  reach  out  over  this  great  space  with 
astonishing  distinctness.  Before  the  reading  began  I 
conversed  with  both  men  as  to  the  right  position  for 
them  to  occupy. 

What  a  scene  was  that  when  all  the  congregation 
of  the  tribes  was  assembled  here  in  this  valley,  "with 
the  women  and  the  little  ones,"  and  the  officers  and 
elders  and  judges  stood  some  on  this  side  and  some 
on  that,  these  shouting  out  the  blessings  in  unison, 
and  those  the  curses,  all  the  people — three  millions 
— shouting  back  with  one  voice,  Amen  !  See  Deut. 
xxvii.,  xxviii.,  and  Josh.  viii.  30,  35. 

After  lunch  Mr.  Hendrix  and  Mr.  Samson  made 
the  ascent  of  Mount  Ebal  to  the  top,  while  I  rested 
in  the  tent,  reading  the  word  of  God,  meditating 
thereon.  At  the  eleventh  hour,  promptly,  we  were 
at  the  Samaritan  synagogue  again.  The  worshipers 
were  all  men.  They  left  their  shoes  in  the  court 
before  the  door.  But  few  wore  stockings,  and  all 
who  did,  but  one  or  two,  took  them  off.  Most  of 
them  washed  their  feet  before  entering,  for  which 
purpose  jars  of  water  had  been  provided.  Lamps 
were  lighted  within.  We  were  told  that  chairs 
would   be   set  for  us  inside  if  we  chose   to  remove 


404  BETHEL — SHILOH — NABLOUS. 

our  shoes,  otherwise  we  should  be  placed  conven- 
iently before  the  door  where  we  could  witness  every 
thing.  We  preferred  the  latter,  as  the  weather  was 
cool,  and  we  were  apprehensive  of  taking  cold,  not 
being  accustomed  to  sit  without  shoes. 

The  service  began  twenty  minutes  after  the  time 
— a  circumstance  not  unlike  what  I  have  known  in 
Methodist  Churches  at  home.  It  was  unique,  and 
not  unimpressive.  The  high-priest  stood  in  the  re- 
cess, and  when  he  intimated  that  the  services  had 
begun,  all  stood  in  perfect  silence  for  five  minutes, 
and  then  he  recited  a  sentence,  to  which  the  congre- 
gation responded,  and  then  all  in  unison  kept  up  a 
sort  of  recitative  service,  broken  at  intervals  by  bow- 
ing until  their  heads  touched  the  floor,  always  in  the 
direction  of  the  place  where  the  Temple  stood  on 
Mount  Gerizim.  Then  some  one  would  repeat  a 
sentence  or  two,  when  all  would  rise,  and  standing 
upright,  commence  again  the  same  sort  of  recitative 
exercise  as  before.  Several  kept  their  voices  at  a 
high  key,  others  kept  to  a  low  tone.  They  were 
evidently  all  using  the  same  words,  but  not  repeating 
sentences  over  and  over.  Some  of  the  boys  had 
books,  but  all  the  older  men  rehearsed  without  any 
such  aid.  Nearly  all  impressed  me  as  being  very 
much  in  earnest.  One  elderly  man,  however,  came 
out  and  chatted  with  us  a  little,  two  or  three  times, 
dropping  his  worship  meanwhile.  He  had  visited 
England,  could  speak  English  a  little,  and  seemed 
greatly  disposed  to  be  social.  We  discovered  at  last, 
though,  that  he  had  an  eye  to  business,  as  he  desired 
us  to  go  to  his  shop  and  buy  some  of  the  prayer- 
books,  which  we  would  probably  have  done  if  it  had 


BETHEL SHILOH NABLOUS.  40$ 

iiot  been  on  the  Lord's-day.  My  conviction  is  that 
backsheesh  is  at  the  bottom  of  all  the  politeness 
shown  to  a  man  in  this  country. 

The  service  continued  for  about  forty  minutes. 
Just  at  the  close  the  high-priest  held  up  \he  Book  of 
the  Law,  which  is  much  venerated  by  them.  I 
understand  they  sometimes  go  forward  and  kiss  it, 
but  in  this  case  they  did  not  do  so. 

I  do  not  know  on  what  principle  the  priesthood  is 
maintained  among  them,  whether  by  hereditary 
right  or  by  selection,  nor  do  I  know  what  the 
priest's  duties  are  in  detail,  but  he  is  supported  by 
the  old  Jewish  method  of  the  tithe. 

There  were  no  women  in  the  congregation — only 
men,  but  they  impressed  us  as  being  intelligent, 
looking  above  the  average  of  the  people  of  this 
country.  Their  perpetuation  is  a  phenomenon,  on 
a  smaller  scale,  as  marvelous  as  the  preservation  of 
the  Jews.  The  wonder  is,  that,  since  they  exist  at 
all,  after  so  long  a  time,  there  should  be  so  few  of 
them,  especially  as  they  are  perpetuated  by  natural 
increase. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

FROM    NABLOUS    TO    TIBERIAS. 

I  BELIEVE  I  omitted  to  state  in  the  last  chapter 
that  the  population  of  Nablous  is  estimated  at 
about  13,000,  and  that  it  has  a  general  air  of 
prosperity  above  the  average,  perhaps,  of' Palestine 
towns.  We  broke  up  our  camp  there  on  Monday- 
morning,  April  16,  and  made  our  way  northwest  to 
the  old  city  of  Samaria,  about  three  hours  distant. 
It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  distances  here  are 
counted  by  hours,  not  miles.  The  country  was 
never  surveyed,  so  that  no  accurate  estimate  of  the 
road  is  possible,  but  the  travel  by  camel  and  donkey 
has  been  timed,  and  the  native  is  at  no  loss  to  tell 
you  the  number  of  hours  to  any  place.  We  came 
by  a  circuitous  way,  and  were  three  hours  on  the 
road.  In  these  mountain  roads  the  hour  is  estimated 
at  about  three  miles.  We  supposed  that  the  bee- 
line  w,ould  not  exceed  six  or  seven  miles. 

Samaria  was  not  the  only,  but,  I  suppose,  the  prin- 
cipal capital  of  the  Kingdom  of  Israel  after  the  revolt 
of  the  ten  tribes.  Shechem  seems  to  have  been  the 
chief  seat  of  religion,  and  Jezreel  was  for  a  time  the 
residence  of  the  perverse  King  Ahab.  At  a  later 
day  Herod  had  a  palace  here,  and  expended  vast 
sums  in  improving  and  ornamenting  the  place.  As 
a  capital  it  was  in  a  well-chosen  situation,  being  cen- 


FROM  N»ABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS.  407 

tral  to  the  territory  to  be  governed,  and  surrounded 
by  a  beautiful  and  fruitful  region. 

As  we  approached  it  we  observed  a  decided 
change,  in  some  respects,  of  the  country,  though  the 
general  features  remain  the  same.  There  are  the 
same  bold  limestone  mountains,  innocent  of  forests, 
with  the  strata  of  rock  disclosing  their  ledges  almost 
everywhere,  the  prospect  being  relieved  here  and 
there  by  olive-groves  and  fig-orchards,  with  hedges, 
now  and  then,  of  enormous  cactus — prickly  pear. 
These  features  it  has  in  common  with  the  country 
farther  south.  But  the  valleys  continue  to  increase 
in  extent,  there  is  more  earth  on  the  hillsides,  with 
many  instances  of  a  grade  adapted  to  easy  cultiva- 
tion, and  above  all,  a  good  supply  of  water  from 
springs  and  running  streams.  Much  of  the  wheat  in 
Judea  is  thin  and  small,  but  here  it  is,  not  always, 
but  generally,  thick  set  and  vigorous. 

But  this  year  there  has  been  a  general  failure  of 
the  latter  rains.  As  a  consequence,  many  fields  are 
in  pitiable  case.  Much  grain  is  ready  to  die — espe- 
cially such  as  is  in  stony  places,  where  it  has  no  deep- 
ness of  earth.  Even  some  of  the  most  luxuriant 
crops  are  beginning  to  dry  up  before  the  grain 
matures.  Scarcity  impends  in  consequence,  and 
already  the  price  of  breadstuffs  is  up. 

Besides  the  larger  valleys,  we  observed  as  we 
approached  Samaria,  a  great  deal  of  terracing  on 
the  mountain  sides,  securing  a  large  additional  area 
of  cultivation.  This  adds  much  to  the  beauty  of  the 
country,  both  as  the  effect  of  terraced  mountain 
sides  on  the  landscape  is  very  pleasant,  and  as  it 
secures  a  wealth  of  verdure  where  otherwise  there 


40S  FROM  NABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS. 

would  be  little  else  than  bare  rocks.  Here  you  see 
the  bold  hills  in  every  direction,  far  and  near,  with 
successive  terraces  rising  from  the  base  to  the  sum- 
mit, every  bench  waving  with  green  wheat.  The 
landscape  is  as  beautiful  as  it  could  well  be  in  the 
absence  of  forests. 

In  the  midst  of  such  scenery  you  see,  in  the  dis- 
tance, the  ruins  of  Samaria,  on  a  hill  well  placed 
amidst  surrounding  elevations.  There  is  still  a  small 
village  here,  which  amounts  to  nothing;  but  the 
ruins  are  extensive  and  interesting.  Among  them 
there  is  a  church,  built,  I  believe,  by  the  Crusaders, 
a  considerable  part  of  which  remains  standing.  One 
basement-room  is  spread  with  mats,  and  used  by 
Mohammedans  as  a  place  of  prayer. 

Passing  up  the  hill  from  this  we  came  upon  a  clus- 
ter of  stone  columns,  some  standing  in  a  good  state 
of  preservation,  some  prostrate,  some  broken  off, 
leaving  stumps  erect,  and  some  which,  though  still 
erect,  are  greatly  worn  by  time. 

But  the  largest  and  most  remarkable  display  of 
ruins  is  on  the  south  side,  where  a  triple  row  of  sim- 
ilar columns  is  found.  They  were  the  ornamental 
supports  of  an  elegant  portico  built  by  Herod,  run- 
ning along  the  whole  extent  of  that  side  of  the  city. 
They  are  standing  now  in  the  midst  of  a  field  of 
wheat.  We  did  not  ride  along  the  whole  extent  of 
them,  nor  did  we  see  the  full  length  of  the  row,  as 
it  disappeared  over  the  brow  of  the  hill.  It  must 
be  a  mile  or  two  long.  The  extent  and  grandeur 
of  such  a  portico,  supported  by  innumerable  mono- 
lith columns,  that  remain,  many  of  them,  standing 
Mid  perfect  to  this  dav,  furnish  another  of  the  many 


FROM  XABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS.  /j-OO, 

proofs  of  the  wealth,  the  luxury,  and  the  despotism 
of  the  Oriental  monarchs  of  the  old  times.  They 
furnish,  also,  conclusive  proof  of  the  populousncss 
and  wealth  of  the  country  in  former  times.  No 
despotism,  however  absolute  and  exacting,  could 
grind  out  of  this  country  now  such  magnificent 
and  extensive  structures,  nor  build  such  great  cities. 
An  hour  farther  upon  our  way  we  stopped  under 
the  shade  of  an  olive-tree,  in  the  midst  of  cultivated 
fields,  and  enjoyed  our  lunch  all  the  more  from  the 
number  of  fellakin,  men  and  women,  who  clustered 
about  us  to  gossip  with  our  dragoman,  and  pick  up 
the  crumbs  that  we  might  leave.  These  people 
rarely  eat  meat,  and  they  took  our  leavings  as  a 
treat.  One  man,  especially,  gnawed  off  all  the  ends 
of  the  chicken  bones  after  we  had  stripped  them  and 
thrown  them  away.  He  amused  us  by  showing  us 
how  he  had  played  the  blind  man  before  the  recruit- 
ing officer,  and  so  avoided  the  draft  for  the  recent 
war.  His  art  was  really-  remarkable.  He  had  the 
power  to  close  his  eyes,  and,  turning  the  balls 
upward,  open  them  just  enough  to  show  a  spot  of 
dead-looking  white.  The  ruse  succeeded,  his  neigh- 
bors did  not  betray  him,  and  he  stayed  at  home  with 
his  family  to  cultivate  his  little  patch  and  eat  his 
bread  and  pulse  in  peace.  Among  our  visitors  was 
a  woman,  the  counterpart  of  whom  I  have  seen  many 
a  time  at  home,  one  who  would  be  a  notable  woman 
in  any  rustic  neighborhood ;  self-possessed,  chatty, 
full  of  good  sense,  and  evidently  much  deferred  to 
by  her  acquaintances.  There  was  also  a  damsel  just 
grown  up,  and  well-grown,  dressed  in  coarse  tow 
linen,  with  a  sort  of  loose  mantle  of  the  same  mate- 


410  FROM  NABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS. 

rial  about  her  shoulders,  a  small  hook  for  cutting 
grass  and  weeds  in  her  hand,  and  a  light  line  of 
tatooing  around  her  chin.  Her  features  were  fine, 
indicating  decided  character.  Her  whole  bearing 
and  attitude  were  such  as  to  command  respect,  and 
the  set  of  her  coarse  garments  had  actually  an  air  of 
elegance.  It  was  remarked  among  us,  that  with 
early  advantages  of  culture  and  association  she 
would  certainly  have  made  a  most  attractive  woman. 

In  the  saddle  again,  we  turned  out  of  our  way  to 
see  Dothan,  where  Joseph  sought  his  brethren,  and 
from  the  midst  of  the  green  pastures  of  which  he  was 
sold  to  the  passing  merchants,  who  bought  him  on 
speculation  for  the  Egyptian  slave-market.  Those 
sons  of  Jacob  were  evidently  little  better  than 
nomadic  savages.  The  slaughter  of  Shechem  and 
the  proposed  murder  and  subsequent  sale  of  their 
brother  are  indices  of  character  which  cannot  be 
mistaken.  One  can  feel  but  little  respect  for  them, 
even  after  making  the  fullest  allowance  for  the  bar- 
barous age  in  which  they  lived. 

We  soon  came  to  the  crest  of  a  ridge  of  consider- 
able altitude,  and  found  the  other  side  of  it  covered 
with  wheat,  without  a  single  break  by  ledge  or  ter- 
race. At  the  foot  of  it  the  valley  was  wide,  and  all 
in  wheat.  Far  up,  also,  on  the  foot  of  the  hills  be- 
yond, all  was  covered  with  the  bearded  grain.  All 
the  wheat  in  this  country  is  bearded,  and  the  beard 
is  very  long.  After  two  weeks  among  hills  whose 
ledges,  laid  successively  above  each  other,  were  like 
stairways  of  giants  laid  in  rock,  this  expanse  of 
gentle  slopes  and  level  plains  was  a  pleasant  sight. 
To  add  to  the  beauty,  brisk  wavelets  were  chasing 


FROM  NABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS.  4II 

• 

each  other  up  the  hill  as  the  grain  swayed  and  lifted 
itself  in  perpetual  pulses  before  the  wind,  while  vary- 
ing and  ever-shifting  tints  of  green  came  and  went 
as  if  they  were  in  a  romp  of  hide-and-seek  upon  the 
moving  surface.  I  felt  a  thousand  lyrics,  but,  alas, 
like  all  the  poetry  that  is  in  me,  it  began  and  ended 
in  feeling,  for  it  can  never  form  itself  into  glowing 
speech,  nor  crystallize  into  rhythmic  utterance. 

Our  course  was  still  west  of  north,  and  as  we  pro- 
ceeded the  change  already  mentioned  became  more 
and  more  marked.  We  have  wider  valleys  and 
lower  hills.  The  mountains  of  southern  Palestine 
are  dropping  toward  the  great  plain  of  Esdraelon, 
that  remarkable  depression  between  them  and  the 
hills  of  Galilee — a  depression  that  extends  quite 
across  from  the  Jordan  on  the  east  to  the  Mediterra- 
nean Sea  on  the  west. 

No  wonder  that  the  sons  of  Jacob,  when  they  left 
Shechem  with  their  flocks,  should  go  to  Dothan. 
The  valley  of  Dothan  is  larger  than  the  one  we 
passed  through  as  we  approached  Shechem,  and  the 
hills  afford  fine  pasturage.  Probably  in  that  early 
day  the  country  was  but  partially  under  the  plow, 
and  it  is  likely  that  this  magnificent  plain  itself  was 
open  to  the  roving  herdsmen  who  might  be  on  the 
lookout  for  good  range. 

It  is  a  circumstance  to  be  noted  that  when  Jacob 
sent  his  herds  to  this  region  his  residence  was  at 
Hebron,  six  hours  south  of  Jerusalem.  To  get  this 
first-rate  range  for  his  stock,  with  abundant  water,  he 
sent  them  away  from  sixty  to  seventy-five  miles. 
Near  his  home  he  depended  almost  entirely  on  wells 
and  pools — artificial  sources   of  supply — but  in  this 


412  FROM  NABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS. 

« 

region  there  were  running  streams  and  perennial 
springs.  There  they  must  rove  over  a  wide  extent  of 
rugged  hills  to  obtain  sufficient  grass — here  they 
could  feed  and  fatten  on  a  little  space  of  level 
ground.  To  see  the  two  regions  is  to  have  the 
whole  matter  explained.  One  can  never  be  at  a  loss 
afterward  for  the  reason  of  these  old  stock-growers 
for  seeking  a  range  so  distant.  They  knew  this 
country,  having  made  their  residence  in  the  great 
valley  near  Shechem  when  they  first  came  from  the 
east,  and  fully  understood  its  value  for  their  pur- 
poses. 

At  the  northern  extremity  of  the  plain  is  an 
isolated  oval  hill  on  which  it  is  said  the  city  of 
Dothan  stood,  There  is  quite  an  extensive  area  of 
level  ground  on  the  top  of  the  hill  which  might  have 
served  for  a  considerable  town.  It  is  now  sowed  in 
wheat.  Accustomed  as  our  horses  were  to  climbing 
mountains,  they  were  put  to  it  to  make  this  ascent, 
and  on  descending  at  another  point  we  were  com- 
pelled to  dismount. 

At  the  foot  of  the  hill  is  a  remarkable  well.  The 
wall  is  of  dressed  stone,  and  each  one  is  fitted  to  its 
place  by  as  neat  a  joint  as  I  ever  saw  in  a  stone 
building.  It  is  under  a  roof,  and  nearly  full  of  very 
good  water.  I  sat  on  the  curbing  and  dipped  out 
the  water  with  a  glass.  They  call  it  the  well  of 
Joseph. 

We  were  a  little  late  getting  into  camp  at   Gerin. 

Just  a  little  distance  from  our  camp  we  saw  another, 

< which   was  the  establishment  of  some  Arabs  from 

Damascus    on    their   way  home.     They  joined    our 

train  at  Nablous  in  order  to  be  in  a  larger  party,  so 


FROM  NABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS.  413 

that  they  and  we  might  travel  with  greater  safety  in 
the  country  near  Damascus,  said  to  be  infested  by 
thieving  Bedouins.  But  in  order,  I  suppose,  to  keep 
the  ladies  of  their  party  properly  secluded,  they  fixed 
their  quarters  for  the  night  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from 
us.  There  were  four  or  five  of  these  ladies,  who  were 
all  carried  by  two  mules  in  the  same  sort  of  fixture  I 
have  before  described.  I  believe,  in  fact,  they  are 
the  same  party  that  we  then  saw. 

Gerin  is  a  village  situated  just  at  the  mouth  of  a 
ravine  which  opens  into  the  plains  of  Esdraelon. 
To-morrow  we  are  to  cross  that  great  plain. 

We  are  unfortunate,  for  once,  having  a  foggy  day 
for  crossing  the  plain.  It  is  not  a  dense  fog,  but  suf- 
ficient to  hide  all  remote  objects.  We  were  ex- 
tremely desirous  to  visit  Mount  Carmel,  but  found 
at  the  last  that  our  time  was  too  limited  for  this.  It 
was  in  some  measure  a  compensation  that  we  should 
see  it  from  the  plain,  and  get  a  distinct  impression  of 
its  general  aspects  and  relation  to  the  country.  But 
the  mist  was  sufficient  to  obscure  it  completely.  Not 
less  desirous  were  we  to  get  a  full  view  of  the  topog- 
raphy of  the  plain  itself,  and  its  situation  with 
respect  to  certain  historical  points  of  great  interest 
within  and  near  it.  Gilboa,  Little  Hermon,  and 
Tabor,  are,  the  two  former  wholly,  and  the  latter  on 
three  sides,  surrounded  by  it.  It  was  the  scene  of 
some  important  battles  in  the  early  times — the 
victory  of  Barak  and  Deborah,  the  achievement  of 
Gideon,  and  the  defeat  of  Saul.  Here,  also,  were 
enacted  the  crimes  of  Ahab  and  Jezebel,  and  the 
coup  d'etat  of  the  impetuous  Jehu. 

Leaving  Gerin  we  crossed  the  first  arm  of  the  plain, 


414  FROM  NABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS. 

and  came  to  a  low  spur  of  Mount  Gilboa,  near  its 
western  extremity.  To  our  left  we  saw  indistinctly 
through  the  fog  the  village  which  is  supposed  to  oc- 
cupy the  site  of  the  ancient  Jezreel.  By  the  blunder 
of  our  dragoman  we  had  taken  a  road  that  did  not 
touch  the  town,  and  we  determined  that,  inasmuch 
as  there  is  nothing  of  any  great  interest  to  be  seen 
there,  we  would  not  now  make  a  detour  to  it.  Our 
main  purpose  was  secured  in  getting  a  view  of  its 
relation  to  the  country.  The  precipitous  part  of  the 
mountain  of  Gilboa  was  on  our  right.  Having 
crossed  over  to  the  northern  side  of  it,  we  turned 
eastward  and  rode  a  mile  or  two  along  its  base  to 
one  of  the  remarkable  fountains  that  spring  out  of  it. 
It  must  have  been  just  along  here  that  the  rout  of 
Saul's  army  took  place.  I  could  imagine  the  de- 
feated host  clambering  the  rocky  and  steep  side  of 
the  mountain,  all  in  rout  and  confusion,  embarrassing 
each  other's  flight,  with  the  shout  of  the  victorious 
pursuers  behind  them,  and  the  sword  of  the  enemy 
doing  bloody  work  upon  the  rearmost.  There  Jona- 
than, the  noble  prince,  with  a  kinglier  heart  than  the 
evil-minded  monarch,  fighting  to  the  death,  perished 
on  his  high  places — and  farther  over,  Saul,  in  the 
agony  of  despair,  fell  upon  the  point  of  his  own 
sword.  The  sun  of  Israel  was  in  bloody  eclipse  this 
day,  and  here  the  discreditable  reign  of  the  son  of 
Cis  came  to  an  end. 

From  this  point  we  directed  our  course  toward 
Little  Hermon.  Certainly  this  is  a  magnificent 
plain ;  yet,  while  its  soil  is  very  rich,  I  am  not  cer- 
tain that  its  fertility  is  overrated.  It  is  of  a  quality, 
at  least  in  some  parts  where  we  passed  through  it, 


FROM  N'ABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS.  41$ 

not  so  easily  cultivated  as  that  in  the  plain  of 
Sharon,  being,  when  dry,  of  a  hard  and  stubborn 
nature.  In  this  respect  it  reminded  me  of  the  adobe 
soil  cf  Texas  and  California;  but,  unlike  that,  it  is  of 
a  brown  color  instead  of  black.  Yet,  if  it  enjoyed 
the  same  advantages  of  cultivation  I  am  not  sure  that 
it  would  not  rival  even  that  in  productiveness. 
When  I  saw  the  little  shovel-plow  bobbing  about  in 
it,  tearing  it  into  clods,  and  leaving  the  greater  part 
of  the  weeds  and  grass  standing,  I  did  long  to  see 
some  strong,  well-turned  American  plow,  drawn  by  a 
powerful  team,  turning  the  surface  over  and  burying 
the  weeds  in  a  clean-cut  furrow. 

Having  crossed  that  part  of  the  plain  which  lies 
between  Giiboa  and  Little  Hermon,  we  came  upon 
the  village  of  Shunem,  elevated  just  a  little  upon  the 
swell  of  the  ground  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain.  At 
first  it  seemed  to  be  made  up  of  little  round  mud 
huts  of  one  exceedingly  low  story,  but  on  closer 
inspection  we  found  the  huts  to  be  built  of  loose 
stones,  found  on  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and 
used  in  their  natural  shape,  being  afterward  plaster- 
ed over  with  mud.  A  meaner-looking  village  can 
scarcely  be  found.  The  prophet  who  should  come- 
and-go  here  now  would  certainly  find  no  "  great 
woman '  to  entertain  him,  or  build  a  chamber  for 
him.  As  we  rode  through  the  narrow  and  filthy 
streets,  fierce-looking  yellow  dogs,  with  bristles 
erect,  flew  at  us  on  the  flat  tops  of  the  houses,  yelp- 
ing furiously,  so  near  to  us  that  we  could  have 
touched  them  with  our  finrcrs.  It  seemed  to  me 
that  the  town  was  built  upon  a  mound  made  of  the 
decay  of  ages.     No  doubt  it  stands  on  the  very  site 


4l6  FROM  NABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS. 

of  the  old  Shunem,  and  the  accumulation  of  ashes, 
filth,  and  fallen  houses,  has  raised  the  area  to  its 
present  elevation. 

In  all  cases  I  give  the  Scripture  names  of  places 
instead  of  the  present  Arabic  names. 

It  was  our  purpose  to  go  by  the  town  of  Nain, 
but  another  error  took  us  so  far  past  it  before  we 
discovered  it  that  we  had  not  time  to  return.  The 
only  object  in  visiting  this  village  is  to  see  the 
unquestionable  spot  where  one  of  our  Lord's  most 
remarkable  miracles  was  performed,  and  this  we 
greatly  desired.  The  aspects  of  the  place,  and  the 
lay  of  the  ground  which  constituted  the  back-ground 
of  the  scene,  would  have  made  it  more  real. 

By  this  time  the  fog  was  yielding  a  little,  and  the 
hills  of  Nazareth  were  in  full  view  to  the  north, 
but  still  another  reach  of  the  plain  was  to  be 
crossed. 

I  should  think  a  larger  area  of  this  plain  must  be 
in  cultivation  now  than  when  Robinson  was  here. 
Much  of  the  wheat  is  very  large,  and,  with  efficient 
cultivation,  it  would  produce  cereals  sufficient  to  feed 
a  vast  multitude  of  people. 

It  is  not  to  be  understood  that  this  plain  is  a  dead 
level.  Far  from  it.  Much  of  it  reminds  me  of  the 
undulating  upland  prairie  of  Missouri.  There  is  just 
sufficient  swell  for  good  drainage.  There  are  por- 
tions of  it,  however,  that  are  level,  and  some  places 
that  are  swampy. 

Geographically,  it  is  a  depression  between  the 
mountains  of  Samaria  and  those  of  Galilee,  with  the 
three  independent  mountains  I  have  spoken  of  stand- 
ing within  it.     It  extends  quite  across  the  country, 


FROM   NABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS.  417 

from  the  Mediterranean  Sea  on  the  west,  to  the  Jor- 
dan and  the  Sea  of  Galilee  on  the  east. 

This  plain  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  a  line  of 
bold  hills  of  sufficient  magnitude  to  be  properly 
denominated  mountains.  They  rise  suddenly  from 
the  plains  so  steep  as  to  be  of  rather  difficult  ascent 
on  horseback. 

Toward  their  western  extremity,  on  their  southern 
slope,  a  ravine  of  perhaps  two  miles  in  length  opens 
down  to  the  plain.  Toward  its  upper  extremity  the 
ravine,  which  is  narrow  below,  makes  a  wider  open- 
ing in  the  mountains,  while  other  short  ravines  sweep 
suddenly  down  into  it  on  all  sides,  with  bold  hills 
between  them.  The  space  thus  made  in  the  moun- 
tains is  of  an  irregular  oval  form,  at  its  upper  ex- 
tremity, with  bold  hills  standing  around  it.  At  the 
upper  extremity,  or  near  it,  on  the  foot  of  one  of  the 
hills,  or  rather  a  little  above  the  foot,  on  the  some- 
what steep  ascent,  stands  the  town  of  Nazareth,  just 
where  it  stood  when  the  Lord,  the  holy  child,  Jesus, 
toiled  in  the  carpenter's-shop,  and  grew  in  favor  both 
with  God  and  man.  Back  of  it  the  mountain  rises 
to  a  considerable  elevation,  having  quite  a  precipi- 
tous "brow"  at  some  points. 

Far  out  in  the  plain,  as  we  approached  it,  we  got  a 
sight  of  some  of  the  houses  that  stand  highest  on  the 
mountain,  but  as  we  came  nearer  the  intervening  hills 
concealed  it.  We  saw  it  no  more  until  we  reached 
the  summit  of  one  of  the  hills  that  overlook  the  ra- 
vine, when  it  came  all  at  once  into  full  view.  My 
first  impression  of  it  was  decidedly  pleasant.  The 
houses  are  of  stone,  and  generally  of  good  size. 
Several    monasteries    and    a    Christian    hospital    are 

14 


41  8  FROM  NABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS. 

large  and  imposing  buildings.  The  houses  rising 
rapidly  above  each  other  on  the  mountain  side,  and 
seeming  to  hang  upon  it  as  a  sort  of  appendage,  had 
a  very  pleasing  aspect. 

The  present  population  is  estirrfated  at  5,000  or 
6,000,  2,500  of  whom  are  Greek  Christians,  and  2,000 
Mussulmans.  There  are  about  100  Protestants.  I 
doubt  not  that  in  our  Saviour's  time  it  was  a  smaller 
town.  The  present  prosperity  of  the  place,  like  that 
of  Bethlehem,  is  due  in  a  measure  to  its  Christian 
memories.  Many  of  its  inhabitants  are  here  simply 
because  it  is  Nazareth.  These  great  monasteries, 
and  this  fine  hospital,  owe  their  existence  solely  to 
that  fact.  Indeed,  I  myself  felt  that  it  would  be  a 
delightful  thing  to  spend  the  rest  of  my  days  where 
my  Lord  and  Master  lived  and  toiled  so  long.  It 
requires  but  slight  effort  of  the  imagination  to  make 
the  very  hills  seem  consecrated. 

Soon  after  reaching  our  tent  we  started  out  for  a 
stroll  through  the  narrow  streets  of  the  town.  The 
first  place  we  visited  was  the  Latin  Monastery.  The 
building  has  been  destroyed  and  rebuilt  several 
times  during  the  long  ages  of  its  existence,  much  of 
the  old  material  being  used  in  successive  reconstruc- 
tion. Evidences  of  this  are  seen  in  the  very  appear- 
ance of  the  stones  in  the  wall.  We  found  excava- 
tions just  being  made  for  the  foundation  of  a  new 
wing  of  the  edifice.  These  excavations  disclosed  a 
buried  wall  of  a  very  ancient  date,  which  had  once 
formed  a  part  of  the  building.  We  were  surprised 
to  find  a  two-horse  wagon,  used  for  hauling  stone — 
the  only  wheeled  vehicle  we  saw  in  Palestine  except 
those  which  ply  between  Jaffa  and  Jerusalem.     Ah! 


FROM  NABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS.  419 

those  Germans  of  the  Temple  community — four  of 
them  are  here,  and  they  are  the  proprietors  of  this 
wagon. 

Entering  the  monastery  we  found  several  monks 
engaged  in  their  devotions,  being  on  their  knees,  and 
reciting  their  prayers  aloud.  An  elevated  recess  is 
called  the  chapel  of  the  angels.  This  is  ornamented 
with  a  large  painting  representing  a  number  of 
angels,  but  I  did  not  study  the  picture  to  determine 
whether  they  were  connected  with  the  Annunciation, 
or  the  birth  of  the  Lord.  The  fact  is  that  these 
idolatries,  fastening  themselves  like  destructive  fungi 
upon  the  scenes  of  our  Lord's  life,  pain  me  so  much 
that  I  pay  but  little  attention  to  them.  This  part  of 
the  monastery  is  ornamented  rather  gorgeously. 
Descending  a  flight  of  steps  we  enter  the  small 
"  Chapel  of  the  Annunciation,"  which  has  a  niche 
resembling  those  in  the  grotto  at  Bethlehem.  Lights 
are  perpetually  burning  here,  and  of  course  much 
superstitious  folly  comes  into  expression. 

From  this  place  we  threaded  the  streets  in  order 
to  see  the  town  as  it  is,  and  especially  the  quarter 
occupied  by  the  workshops  of  mechanics.  Black- 
smiths', shoemakers',  saddlers',  and  other  shops,  wc 
saw  in  numbers,  but  almost  began  to  despair  of  find- 
ing a  carpenter  s  shop — the  sort  of  all  others  we 
desired  to  see.  But  what  place  is  there  for  car- 
penters where  all  the  houses — walls,  floors,  roofs, 
stairways — are  made  of  stone.  Stone  yards  we  saw 
in  abundance,  but  no  carpenter's  shop.  The  nearest 
approach  to  it  was  the  workshop  of  a  cabinet-maker. 
Was  it  so  in  our  Lord's  day  ?  and  was  this  the  trade 


420  FROM  NABLOUS  TO    TIBERIAS. 

of  Joseph  ?     It  is   certainly  the  nearest  allied  to  car- 
pentering of  anything  we  have  found. 

From  the  streets  we  ascended  to  the  summit  of 
the  ridge  back  of  the  town.  This  ridge  is  the  back- 
bone of  the  system  of  hills  in  which  Nazareth  lies. 
We  stood  at  the  head  of  the  ravine,  the  whole 
extent  of  which  we  had  in  view,  but  the  town  itself 
was  concealed  from  our  sight.  Turning  our  faces 
northward,  the  hills  melt  away  into  a  beautiful  valley, 
beyond  which  another  range  of  low  mountains 
appear,  while  between  us  and  the  valley  are  two 
considerable  villages.  Turning  to  the  left  and  look- 
ing in  a  south-west  direction,  we  get  our  first  glimpse 
of  Mount  Carmel. 

Returning  eastward  along  the  ridge,  and  so  ap- 
proaching the  town  by  a  circuit,  we  came  upon  a 
very  fine  view  of  it  from  the  side  opposite  to  that  on 
which  we  approached  it. 

Just  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  on  the  east  side  of  the 
town,  is  the  "  Fountain  of  the  Virgin."  It  is  the 
only  spring  in  the  place,  and  there  are  few  if  any 
cisterns,  for  the  people  seem  all  to  come  here  for 
their  supply  of  water.  The  water  is  carried  by 
underground  pipes  into  a  reservoir  of  stone,  which  is 
roofed  over,  and  is  conducted  out  of  it  in  two  stone 
spouts,  which  project  from  the  lower  side.  There 
seems  to  have  been  formerly  a  stone  pavement  here, 
but  it  is  all  broken  up,  and  a  puddle  of  mud  and 
water  six  inches  deep,  and  several  feet  wide,  is 
formed  by  the  dripping  water.  We  saw  the  pool  at 
mid-day  and  at  dusk  the  day  we  arrived,  and  at 
early  breakfast-time  the  next  morning,  and  there 
was  always  a  crowd  of  women,  mostly  maidens,  with 


FROM  NABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS.  421 

water-jars,  each  waiting  her  turn  to  fill  her  jar. 
Sometimes  one  would  be  delayed,  I  should  think,  for 
half  an  hour.  The  jar  is  set  under  the  stream  that 
drops  from  one  of  the  two  spouts  I  have  mentioned, 
which  is  so  small  as  to  require  several  minutes  to  fill 
the  vessel.  There  the  barefooted  damsels  stand  :  rid 
chat,  and  fill  their  "  waterpots,"  which  are  generally 
large  enough,  I  suppose,  to  contain  two  of  our 
ordinary  blue  buckets  full,  and  then,  one  assisting 
another,  each  raises  her  big  jar,  poises  it  on  her 
head,  and  walks  away  up  the  steep  streets.  It 
seems  to  be  quite  a  time  of  gossiping  for  the  girls, 
and,  truth  to  tell,  there  are  generally  some  grown-up 
boys  sauntering  around,  with  nothing  in  the  world  to 
bring  them  to  the  place.  But  happening  to  be  there, 
they  join  in  the  gossip,  not  without  interest,  appar- 
ently. 

This  fountain,  it  is  said,  was  formerly  a  little  up  on 
the  foot  of  the  hill,  where  the  Greek  Monastery  now 
stands.  When  we  visited  this  Monastery  we  saw  an 
ornamented  apartment  which  they  called  the 
"  Chapel  of  the  Annunciation,"  which,  according  to 
the  tradition,  covers  the  fountain  or  well  where  the 
angel  Gabriel  appeared  to  the  mother  of  our  Lord. 
A  goblet,  with  the  string  attached,  was  dropped 
through  a  hole  not  more  than  six  inches  in  diameter, 
and  brought  up  full  of  pure,  cold  water  for  us  to 
irink. 

It  was  with  extreme  reluctance  that  we  left  this 
place  at  the  end  of  so  short  a  visit.  I  had  a  great 
desire  to  linger  among  its  hills.  I  have  no  supersti- 
tious veneration  for  holy  places.  Any  hill  which 
God  has  made  is  as  holy  as  those  trodden  by  the  feet 


422  FROM  NABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS. 

of  his  Incarnate  Son;  but  there  is  an  influence  in 
these  associations  which  tends  to  promote  devotion 
and  piety.  These  are  the  very  hills  he  clambered 
over ;  these  flowers  are  of  the  same  species  as  those 
he  gathered ;  the  distant  reaches  of  hill  and  valley 
seen  from  these  summits  constitute  the  frame-work 
in  which  his  life  was  set.  It  was  an  opportunity 
most  blessed  to  spend  twenty  hours  in  and  near  the 
town  of  Nazareth. 

At  a  point  some  five  miles  eastward  from  the 
town,  the  Nazareth  range  of  mountains  sends  out 
rather  a  low  ridge,  south,  into  the  edge  of  the  plain  of 
Esdraelon.  This  ridge  terminates  in  an  oval  moun- 
tain of  greater  elevation  than  any  other  in  the  entire 
range.  Though  thus  connected  with  the  range 
behind  it,  this  mountain  stands  fairly  out  in  the  plain, 
and  constitutes  a  very  prominent,  if  not  the  most 
prominent,  object  in  the  landscape.  This  is  Mount 
Tabor,  which  has  generally  been  taken  to  be  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration.  Recent  criticism  tends 
to  discredit  this  view.  Some  are  inclined  to  locate 
that  great  event  in  Mount  Hermon,  as  it  occurred 
Very  near  the  time  of  our  Lord's  only  recorded  visit 
to  "the  coast  of  Cesarea  Philippi."  I  shall  not  enter 
into  the  controversy,  much  less  undertake  to  settle 
the  question.  It  seems  most  likely  that  it  took  place 
in  one  or  the  other ;  but  even  that  is  not  certain. 

On  our  way  from  Nazareth  to  Tiberias  we  had  our 
choice  to  go  by  Cana  or  Tabor,  and  preferred  the 
latter. 

A  considerable  part  of  the  ascent  was  made  on 
horseback.  From  the  point  where  we  left  our  horses 
the   path  is    extremely   tortuous,   seeking   an   easy 


FROM  NABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS.  423 

grade.  Proceeding  slowly,  we  reached  the  summit 
with  less  fatigue  than  we  had  anticipated.  Two 
monasteries  stand  on  the  plateau,  Latin  and  Greek. 
The  Latin  occupies  the  more  elevated  position,  and 
we  therefore  visited  it.  It  is  kept  by  a  single  Italian 
monk,  with  some  native  attendants.  From  the  top 
we  had  a  magnificent  view.  Somewhat  to  the  west 
of  south  there  rose  in  a  clear  atmosphere — for  we 
had  a  fine  day — the  ridge  of  Little  Hermon.  On  its 
side  were  two  villages  distinctly  visible,  even  to  the 
naked  eye.  That  to  our  left  was  Endor,  the  other 
Nain.  They  are  about  half-way  up  the  mountain 
side.  I  could  imagine  the  king,  forsaken  of  God,  in 
camp  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains  of  Gilboa,  which 
we  had  also  in  full  view  farther  to  the  south-west,  on 
the  eve  of  a  bloody  battle  with  the  Philistines,  who 
were  in  camp  at  Shunem,  near  the  point  of  Little 
Hermon.  The  silence  of  God  toward  him  conspired 
with  a  guilty  conscience  to  make  him  doubtful  of  the 
issue.  He  cannot  brave  the  conflict  without  some 
intimation  from  the  awful  realm  of  the  unseen  world. 
He  hears  of  a  witch — a  medium — a  spiritist — at 
Endor.  Attended  by  a  few  of  his  servants,  he  makes 
his  way  stealthily,  by  night,  across  the  strip  of  plain 
between  the  two  mountains,  having  the  enemy's 
camp  on  his  left,  crosses  the  ridge  at  the  base  of 
which  the  Philistines  lay,  and,  descending  half-way 
upon  the  other  slope,  finds  the  object  of  his  misera- 
ble adventure.  It  would  occupy,  perhaps,  three 
hours,  or  less,  to  go,  and  as  much  time  to  return. 
What  a  horrible  night! — and  what  a  horrible  day 
succeeded ! 

Beyond  Gilboa,  and  more  to  the  west,  was  Mount 


424  FROM  NABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS. 

Carmel,  stretching  somewhat  dimly  upon  the  horizon. 
Turning  northward  we  had  the  mountains  of  Gali- 
lee in  full  view,  and  to  the  right  of  them — yes,  it  was 
so — a  strip  of  water.  It  was  the  edge  of  the  Lake 
of  Galilee.  To  the  eastward  lay  the  valley  of  the 
Jordan,  and  the  mountains  of  Gilead  beyond,  in  full 
vision. 

Back  of  the  monastery  are  some  old  ruins  of  great 
interest  to  the  antiquary,  whose  knowledge  of  archi- 
tecture enables  him  to  classify  such  remains,  and 
assign  them  to  their  proper  era. 

Was  this  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration  ?  For 
aught  I  know  it  was.  If  so,  what  a  glory  crowned 
this  summit  once  ! 

After  remaining  as  long  as  prudence  would  allow, 
descending  rapidly,  we  heard  Hazeez  calling.  Ha- 
zeez  had  been  left  in  charge  of  our  horses  and  our 
lunch.  We  did  not  know  but  the  Bedouins  had 
attacked  him,  he  called  so  lustily ;  but  the  faithful 
Arab  was  only  solicitous  for  us,  lest  we  might  lose 
our  way  in  the  mountain. 

As  we  descended  toward  the  plain  we  met  a 
woman  who  had  been  weeping  till  her  eyes  were 
swollen.  She  had  lost  her  donkey.  After  a  brief 
colloquy  we  proceeded  on  our  way,  and  she  went  on 
wailing  with  a  very  bitter  cry.  My  sympathies  were 
deeply  touched,  and  the  more  when  our  dragoman 
explained  to  us  the  cause  of  her  distress.  She  be- 
longed to  a  company  of  pastoral  Bedouins  whose 
camp  we  would  soon  pass.  Having  been  on  some 
laborious  errand,  and  been  riding  several  hours,  she 
dismounted  to  take  a  little  rest,  and  let  the  donkey 
feed.     Unintentionally  she  fell  asleep,  and  awoke  to 


FROM  NABLOUS  TO  TIBERIAS.  42$ 

find  the  donkey  gone.  For  several  hours  she  had 
been  seeking  him,  and  if  she  returned  to  the  camp 
without  him  her  husband  would  give  her  a  savage 
beating.  "That  is  the  way  these  Arabs  do,"  said 
our  dragoman,  himself  an  Arab.  If  the  women  of 
America  could  only  realize  what  Christ  has  done  for 
them  they  would  never  rest  till  the  gospel  should  be 
preached  over  the  whole  face  of  the  earth. 

We  were  soon  in  a  comparatively  level  plain, 
which  may  be  properly  regarded  as  the  north-eastern 
extension  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon.  It  is  perhaps 
1,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  In 
a  few  miles  we  began  to  descend  toward  the  sea, 
where  the  ground  again  assumes  a  somewhat  moun- 
tainous aspect. 

Soon  the  waters  of  the  sea  appear  in  their  deep 
bed,  and  we  hasten  on  to  find  the  stars  and  stripes 
floating  over  our  tent  on  the  shore,  just  south  of  the 
city  of  Tiberias. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

SEA  OF  GALILEE. 

I  HAVE  said,  in  a  former  chapter,  that  the 
plain  of  Esdraelon  is  about  1,000  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  Lake  of  Galilee.  Sweeping 
round  the  east  side  of  Mount  Tabor,  and  stretching 
out  east  and  north-east,  it  finally  breaks  into  ridges 
as  it  descends  toward  the  river  and  the  lake.  Near 
the  edge  of  the  plain,  and  perhaps  as  much  as  three 
miles  from  the  sea,  is  an  elevation  of  rather  singular 
shape,  which  is  distinguished  as  the  traditional 
Mount  of  Beatitudes,  on  which  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  was  delivered.  Some  intelligent  men  are 
disposed  to  regard  this  tradition  with  favor.  There 
is  nothing  in  the  sacred  narrative  to  contradict  it, 
and  it  seems,  upon  the  whole,  to  be  at  least  as  likely 
to  have  been  the  scene  of  the  great  gathering  to 
which  our  Lord  opened  his  mission  in  a  formal  dis- 
course as  any  other  height  in  the  neighborhood.  It 
has  been  remarked  that  there  is  a  place  on  the  side 
of  it  where  a  vast  assembly  could  be  conveniently 
placed  with  the  speaker  elevated  somewhat  above 
them.  This  hill  was  a  mile  to  our  left,  but  as  the 
day  was  far  spent  we  contented  ourselves  with  this 
distant  view,  which  gave  us  a  clear  notion  of  its  rela- 
tion to  the  surrounding  country. 

Descending  some  steep  and  long  breaks,  we  came 


SEA  OF   GALILEE.  427 

all  at  once  upon  a  full  view  of  the  lake,  which 
seemed  almost  at  our  feet.  We  had  descended 
from  the  plain  by  a  grade  so  steep  and  long  that  I 
supposed  we  must  be  well  down  to  the  level  of  the 
water.     Far  from  it. 

Two  things  strike  the  visitor  instantly  upon  his 
first  sight  of  this  remarkable  sheet  of  water — the 
depth  of  the  basin  in  which  it  stands,  and  the  small- 
ness  of  the  lake  itself.  It  seems  as  if  this  place  must 
have  been  dug  into  the  earth  for  the  very  purpose  it 
serves.  It  is  not  only  a  lake  in  a  mountainous 
region,  but  a  lake  the  surface  of  which  is  more  than 
200  feet  below  that  of  the  ocean.  It  lies  in  the  very 
bowels  of  the  earth. 

The  smallness  of  the  lake  almost  startles  you. 
The  shore  on  the  opposite  side  lies  so  near  you  that 
you  can  scarcely  think  of  it  as  the  "  country  of  the 
Gergesenes '  and  of  the  "  Gadarenes,"  which  our 
Lord  took  ship  to  visit.  You  may  be  ever  so  fa- 
miliar with  the  facts,  of  the  case,  and  say  to  yourself 
beforehand,  "This  lake  is  only  six  or  seven  miles 
wide,"  yet  you  will  not  be  prepared  to  see  the  very 
gullies  in  the  shore  on  the  other  side.     But  so  it  is. 

Our  camp  was  at  Tiberias,  on  the  west  shore  of 
the  lake,  about  midway  between  its  northern  and 
southern  extremities.  We  were  south  of  the  town, 
and  within  thirty  or  forty  yards  of  the  water's  edge. 
My  companions,  young  men  both  of  them,  were 
eager  for  a  bath.  Their  ardor,  was,  I  confess,  infec- 
tious. We  were  all  soon  laving  our  bodies  in  the 
beautiful  clear  waters  of  that  sea  which  had  seemed 
half  divine  to  us  from  our  childhood,  as  it  reflected 


428  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 

the  radiant  presence  of   Him    whose  name  glorifies 
every  object  associated  with  it. 

We  found  the  shore  at  this  point  covered  with 
water-worn  pebbles  and  small  stones,  and  all  along 
the  edge  was  a  line  of  small  univalve  shells,  thrown 
up  by  the  ripples.  They  are  innumerable,  and  our 
party  gathered  a  quart  of  them  in  a  few  minutes. 

Upon  consultation  with  our  dragoman,  we  deter- 
mined to  go  by  boat  the  following  morning  to  Tell 
Hum,  the  traditional  site  of  Capernaum,  sending  our 
horses  to  Kahn  Minyeh,  where  we  would  meet  them. 
There  are  only  four  or  five  boats  at  Tiberias,  all  of 
which  are  the  property  of  one  man.  We  sent  a 
message  to  him  to  engage  his  services.  After  night- 
fall he  appeared  at  our  tent  door,  a  well-dressed  and 
good-looking  man,  and  was  ready  to  take  us  to  Tell 
Hum  and  Kahn  Minyeh  for  a  pound  sterling.  Our 
dragoman  protested  against  it  as  an  exorbitant 
charge,  and  offered  ten  shillings,  whereupon  the 
independent  fisherman  turned  abruptly  away  without 
a  word,  at  which  indignity  the  dragoman  flew  into  a 
great  rage,  followed  him  out,  and  assailed  him  with 
hot  wrords,  I  suppose,  as  we  heard  much  loud  talk. 
In  the  end  we  engaged  him  for  a  Napoleon,  which 
we  thought  reasonable  enough. 

In  the  morning  we  found  our  boatman  prepared 
and  disposed  to  serve  us  efficiently,  having  engaged 
a  double  set  of  hands  to  relieve  each  other,  as  we 
desired  to  make  the  run  as  rapidly  as  possible. 
Rowing  up  to  town  we  stopped  to  take  on  a  supply 
of  provisions  for  the  day,  as  the  boat  would  probably 
be  out  all  day;  whereupon  one  of  our  party  quoted, 
"  Children,  have  ye  any  meat?  "    Small  as  it  was,  the 


SEA  OF  GALILEE.  429 

incident  affected  me  strangely  and  deeply,  bringing 
our  Lord  and  the  twelve  into  vivid  expression  before 
my  mind. 

Supplies  being  brought  on  board,  we  started  again, 
but  soon  brought  up  under  a  stone  wall  which  pro- 
jected out  into  the  water,  on  which  a  net  had  been 
spread  out  to  dry.  This  was  taken  out  and  stowed 
in  the  boat,  being  very  deftly  handled,  and  laid  in 
neat  folds  from  which  it  could  be  paid  out  without 
becoming  entangled  with  itself.  So  here  we  were 
on  the  Lake  of  Galilee  in  a  fisherman 's  boat!  This 
was  more  than  we  had  bargained  for — better  than 
we  anticipated.  The  proprietor  stood  behind,  man- 
aging the  rudder  and  giving  orders.  We  occupied 
the  seat  just  in  front  of  him,  and  before  us  was  the 
crew,  an  exceptionally  good-looking  set  of  men,  ply- 
ing the  oars  with  good-will,  chatting  and  laughing  in 
a  very  pleasant  way.  I  could  almost  imagine  that 
our  chief  was  such  a  man  as  Peter,  for  he  was  a 
rather  brusque  and  impulsive,  but  evidently  gener- 
ous-hearted man,  of  strong  character. 

The  sun  was  bright,  the  water  smooth,  and  every 
thing  propitious.  An  infinite  peace  seemed  to  be 
diffused  like  a  spirit  throughout  the  firmament  above, 
over  the  hills  around  us,  and  through  the  waters 
beneath.  Peace !  yes ;  not  a  dead  repose,  but  a 
vital  peace.  It  was  as  if  the  Prince  of  Peace  were 
breathing  upon  us  as  upon  the  disciples,  imparting 
the  benediction  that  his  words  expressed.  Surely 
the  baptism  of  his  presence  was  upon  us  and  upon 
the  scene  around  us !  The  sun,  at  ten  degrees  above 
the  heights  of  the  eastern  shore,  flamed  forth  his 
radiance  with  uncommon  brilliancy. 


430  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 

About  eight  miles  of  vigorous  rowing  in  a  straight 
line  brought  us  to  Tell  Hum.  To  complete  the 
experiences  of  the  boat  the  sail  was  raised  to  catch 
a  favorable  breeze ;  but  it  proved  to  be  but  a 
momentary  gust.     So  we  sailed  as  well  as  rowed. 

At  Tell  Hum,  looking  southward,  we  had  the 
entire  lake  before  us.  The  northern  end  is  an 
irregular  oval,  around  which  the  land  rises  in  a 
grade  that  is  sufficiently  easy  for  cultivation.  We 
observed  a  good  many  wheat-fields  dotting  this  slope. 
Indeed,  on  the  north-west,  a  plain  of  about  five  miles 
square  lies  upon  the  shore — the  plain  of  Gennesaret. 
Of  course  it  is  not  an  exact  square,  but  I  give  the 
extent  of  it  proximately.  It  is  elevated  but  a  very 
little  above  the  surface  of  the  water.  The  fertility  of 
this  small  tract  is  something  fabulous.  Its  northern 
extremity  is  at  Kahn  Minyeh,  which  Robinson  sup- 
poses to  be  the  real  site  of  Capernaum,  instead  of 
Tell  Hum,  where  the  tradition  has  placed  it.  The 
southern  extremity  is  at  Magdala,  the  home  of  her 
out  of  whom  seven  demons  were  cast,  at  which  place 
the  lake  has  its  greatest  width,  the  shore-line  bearing 
up  westwardly  to  this  point,  and  then  curving  toward 
the  north-east.  At  Magdala  the  shore  becomes 
precipitous,  and  continues  so  to  the  southern 
extremity,  except  that  it  recedes  somewhat  at  Tibe- 
rias. About  opposite  to  Magdala,  also  on  the  east- 
ern side,  the  shore  becomes  precipitous.  Upon  the 
southern  extremity  the  plain  of  the  Jordan  opens. 
The  general  contour  then  shows  sloping  shores 
around  the  northern  end  of  the  lake,  and  precipitous 
shores  on  both  sides  along  the  southern  part. 
Below  Magdala  the  western  shore  encroaches  upon 


SEA  OF  GALILEE.  43  I 

the  lake,  so  that  at  the  southern  extremity  it  is  only 
four  and  a  half  miles  wide,  while  at  Magdala  it  is 
seven  and  a  half.  The  eastern  shore  more  nearly 
approximates  a  straight  line. 

As  we  stood  there  at  Tell  Hum,  looking  south,  we 
saw,  on  the  east  side,  though  we  could  not,  of  course, 
locate  it  exactly,  the  "steep  place"  down  which  the 
possessed  herd  of  swine  ran  violently,  and  were 
choked  in  the  sea.  It  is  literally  what  the  phrase 
imports,  not  a  precipice,  but  a  steep  place.  To  our 
left  the  river  enters,  but  we  cannot  exactly  see  the 
place.  To  our  left,  also,  removed  a  mile  or  two  from 
the  shore,  is  Chorazin,  which  we  do  not  see.  Near 
us,  and  in  sight,  if  we  could  tell  where  exactly,  was 
Bethsaida.  Tradition  has  fixed  it  on  our  right,  about 
a  mile,  where  a  spring-branch  pours  its  flush  current 
into  the  lake  with  a  sufficient  volume  and  fall  to  run 
a  little  mill.  It  would  have  been  a  delightful  situa- 
tion for  it.  A  mile  farther  to  our  right  is  Kahn  Min- 
yeh,  south  of  west  from  our  stand-point,  which,  as  I 
have  already  said,  some  take,  and  certainly  not  with- 
out reason,  to  be  the  site  of  Capernaum,  instead  of 
this.  There  the  plain  of  Gennesaret  sets  in ;  and 
five  miles  farther,  a  little  west  of  south,  is  Magdala, 
at  the  southern  extremity  of  the  little  plain,  and  at 
the  foot  of  a  bold  hill  which  juts  up  against  the  lake. 
Two  or  three  miles  a  little  east  of  south  from  it — for 
the  shore  trends  eastward  here — is  Tiberias.  A  mile 
south  of  that  is  the  hot  spring,  covered  by  a  bath- 
house— and  south  of  that,  nothing.  On  the  eastern 
shore,  from  one  end  to  the  other,  there  is — nothing. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  at  all  the  points  I 
have  named  there  are  towns  now.     Far  from  it.     In 


4.32  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 

the  summer  the  hot  baths  are  much  resorted  to  from 
all  over  Syria  for  sanitary  purposes,  and  during  the 
season  have  quite  a  stir  of  life  about  them.  Tiberias 
is  a  dirty,  flea-infested  town  of  3,000  inhabitants, 
half  of  whom  are  Jews.  It  has  no  commerce,  and 
the  extent  of  its  fisheries  may  be  inferred  from  the 
fact  that  it  has  but  four  little  boats,  all  owned  by  one 
man.  I  imagine  the  place  gets  nearly  all  its  business 
from  the  visitors  to  the  baths.  At  Magdala  there  is 
a  very  small  village,  and,  as  we  saw  it  from  the  boat, 
it  seemed  a  miserable  place,  as  Bedeker  says  it  is. 
Its  present  name  is  Majdel.  At  the  traditional  sites 
of  Capernaum,  Bethsaida,  and  Chorazin,  there  is 
nothing.  The  only  signs  of  life  on  all  this  part  of 
the  lake  are  the  little  water-mill  at  the  point  which 
our  boatmen  called  Bethsaida,  and  a  few  huts  which 
the  Bedouins  occupy  when  they  graze  their  flocks 
here,  but  which  are  now  empty. 

What  a  contrast  with  the  time  when  Tiberias  was 
a  flourishing  city,  and  Capernaum  almost  rivaled  it ; 
when  Chorazin,  Bethsaida,  and  Magdala,  were 
bustling  towns ;  when  there  were  at  least  two  Roman 
garrisons,  one  at  Tiberias  and  one  at  Capernaum ; 
and  when  hundreds  of  boats  dotted  the  sea  with 
their  white  sails.  Death,  death,  death  !  "  Woe  unto 
thee,  Chorazin  ;  Woe  unto  thee,  Bethsaida  ! '  You 
have  rejected  Him  and  his  mighty  works.  The  bolt 
that  is  to  smite  you  is  already  forged.  "  And  thou, 
Capernaum — exalted  to  heaven — shalt  be  cast  down 
to  hell."  This  is  one  instance,  at  least,  in  which 
I  rophecy  has  taken  effect,  not  only  on  persons,  but 
i;  stones.  Not  one  has  been  left  upon  another.  All 
.ese  silent  and  desolate  shores  are  under  the  blight 


SEA  OF  GALILEE.  433 

of  a  curse — the  curse  of  the  rejected  Messiah.  The 
most  fearful  thing  in  the  universe  of  being  is  love 
when  it  flames  into  jealousy.  The  wrath  which  is  the 
most  consuming  is  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb.  "  Let  it 
alone  this  year  " — it  is  the  voice  of  Incarnate  Love — 
of  the  Intercessor.  "  I  will  dig  about  it  and  dung 
it" — I  will  exhaust  all  the  resources  of  cultivation 
upon  it — it  is  the  labor  of  Incarnate  Love.  "  Then, 
after  that,"  if  it  remain  unfruitful,  "thou  shalt  cut  it 
down."  Works  that  would  have  brought  Tyre  and 
Sidon  to  repentance,  were  done  here  to  no  avail — 
and  then  came  the  ax,  which  was  already  lying, 
whetted,  at  the  root  of  the  tree.  "  Cut  it  down." 
Ay  !  it  has  been  dug  up  by  the  roots.  Death,  death, 
death  !  Yes,  the  doom  has  fallen,  and  Death  reigns 
over  the  sea  and  its  shores  where  the  Lord  of  life 
came  and  offered  himself  to  men,  and  was  despised 
and  rejected.  Thistles  six  feet  high,  and  as  thick  as 
barley  in  the  field,  cover  and  hide  the  ruins  of  Caper- 
naum ;  and  as  for  Bethsaida,  there  is  no  trace  even 
of  any  ruin.  Indeed,  the  same  is  true  of  Capernaum, 
if  Kahn  Minyeh  be  the  true  site. 

Poor  patches  of  wheat  dot  the  slopes  which  once 
waved  with  a  universal  harvest — and  even  Gennesa- 
ret,  that  fed  its  thousands,  is  little  more  than  a  mass 
of  rankest  bramble.  It  has  been,  indeed,  more 
tolerable  for  Tyre  and  Sidon,  even  in  the  judgments 
of  time  ;  for  smitten  as  they  are,  they  still  exist. 

Our  object  in  visiting  Tell  Hum  was  not  only  to 
get  a  good  stand-point  from  which  to  survey  the 
lake  and  its  shores,  but  to  get  a  sight  of  the  locality 
and  ruins  as  well.  The  rim  of  the  lake  here  is  com- 
posed of  round    stones,  some  the   size  of  a  man's 


434  SEA  0F  GALILEE. 

head,  some  larger,  some  smaller,  worn  smooth  by  the 
waves,  but  evidently  of  volcanic  origin.  A  very  few 
steps  brought  us  up  to  the  edge  of  a  level  plot  of 
ground  of  perhaps  two  or  three  hundred  acres,  with 
a  rather  gentle  ascent  of  the  ground  around  it  on  all 
sides  except  the  front.  This  was  covered  with  a 
mass  of  weeds  and  shrubs  in  which  the  thistle  pre- 
vailed. The  growth  was  exceedingly  rank.  A  few 
tourists  who  had  preceded  us  had  broken  a  narrow 
path  to  the  ruins.  Some  archaeologists  assign  a  por- 
tion of  these  ruins  to  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
era.  The  most  massive  are  supposed  to  be  the 
remains  of  a  synagogue,  and,  if  this  was  Capernaum, 
it  may  have  been  the  work  of  that  pious  centurion 
of  whom  they  said,  "  He  loveth  our  nation,  and  hath 
built  us  a  synagogue."  They  are  very  massive,  and 
in  a  good  style  of  art,  but  I  cannot  undertake  any 
description  of  them. 

There  are  other  remains  supposed  to  be  those  of 
a  basilica,  built  on  the  traditional  site  of  Simon 
Peter's  house,  in  the  sixth  century.  These  I  did  not 
examine  particularly. 

The  ruins  of  a  massive  public  edifice  raise  a  strong 
presumption  in  favor  of  this  as  the  site  of  the  princi- 
pal city  on  this  part  of  the  lake,  and  especially  as 
there  are  no  such  remains  at  any  other  place.  It 
would  be  a  most  singular  thing  that  the  only  build- 
ing of  such  size  and  material  as  to  resist  the  ravages 
of  time  should  be  found  in  a  village,  and  none  such 
in  the  only  city  of  the  neighborhood.  But  whether 
this  ought  to  outweigh  the  considerations  which 
favor  Kahn  Minyeh  as  the  place  where  Capernaum 
stood,  or  not,  I  leave  others  to  determine. 


SEA  OF  GALILEE.  435 

Tiberias,  built  by  Herod,  and  named  for  the 
Emperor  of  Rome,  was  never,  so  far  as  we  know, 
visited  by  our  Lord.  It  was  some  eight  miles  south 
of  Capernaum,  on  the  west  side  of  the  lake,  and  was 
the  largest  city  in  all  that  region.  Having  been 
built  on  a  grave-yard,  the  Jews  refused  to  settle  in  it, 
and  so  the  King  had  to  get  strangers  to  occupy  it. 
It  was  essentially  a  heathen  city,  and  noted  for  its 
wickedness.  I  remember  only  one  passage  of  Scrip- 
ture that  speaks  of  it,  and  that  in  an  incidental  way. 
The  site  of  the  old  city  was  nearer  to  the  Baths  than 
that  of  the  present  town.  There  are  some  consider- 
able ruins  there,  but  I  had  no  time  to  examine  them, 
though  I  took  a  moonlight  walk  to  them. 

It  is  probable  that  our  Lord  was  never  in  the 
streets  of  this  city,  and  that  therefore  it  never  had 
the  opportunity  of  rejecting  him  in  any  formal  way. 
Does  this  account  for  the  fact  that  it  still  exists? 
Who  can  tell?  Yet  even  it  barely  exists.  The 
glory  of  it  is  all  gone. 

It  is  one  of  the  very  strange  facts  of  history  that 
the  place  so  abhorred  by  the  Jews  at  first  should 
have  become  a  sacred  place  with  them  at  a  later  day. 
Yet  so  it  was. 

There  are  two  places,  one  on  the  lake — Tiberias — 
and  one  perched  high  upon  the  mountains  above  it 
to  the  north-west,  and  overlooking  it — Safed — which 
are  held  by  many  Jews  now,  and  have  been  for  many 
ages  past,  in  as  high  regard,  or  nearly  so,  as  Jerusa- 
lem itself.  How  it  came  about  that  the  Rabbins 
connected  the  Sea  of  Galilee  with  the  coming  of 
Messiah  I  know  not,  but  the  fact  is  certain.  Whether 
this    belief  led    to    the   establishment    of  the    great 


436  SEA  OF   GALILEE. 

university  of  that  people  in  Tiberias  in  the  early  part 
of  the  Christian  era,  or  whether  its  location  here  rose 
out  of  that  fact,  I  know  not ;  but  for  three  centuries 
that  university  was  the  great  center  of  interest  and 
sacred  learning  among  the  Jews  scattered  over  the 
whole  earth.  Here  the  great  Maimonides  was  buried. 
Here  the  most  distinguished  Rabbins  were  trained, 
and  here  they  taught  the  Law  and  the  Targum. 
Here  also  was  "the  seat  of  the  Patriarch,  who  exer- 
cised an  almost  papal  sway  over  the  wide  extent  to 
which  his  exiled  countrymen  had  been  scattered." 

It  became  a  received  tradition  among  them  that 
Messiah  would  rise  out  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  land  at 
Tiberias,  and  fix  the  seat  of  his  kingdom  at  Safed. 
Thus  this  sheet  of  water  became  as  dear  and  sacred 
to  them  as  to  the  Christians,  and  to  this  day  many 
of  them  make  their  home  in  Tiberias,  and  in  Safed, 
looking  for  the  day  when  the  Deliverer  shall  come. 
They  cherish  the  words  of  the  Rabbins,  "  I  have  cre- 
ated seven  seas,  saith  the  Lord,  but  out  of  them  all 
I  have  chosen  none  but  the  Sea  of  Gennesaret." 

After  a  brief  examination  of  the  ruins  of  Tell 
Hum,  we  returned  to  the  boat,  for  we  had  no  time  to 
spare.  At  the  water's  edge  we  found  a  few  olean- 
ders, but  they  were  not  so  large  as  I  expected  to 
see.  Our  boatmen  toiled  at  the  oars  with  hearty 
good-will.  We  passed  near  the  mill  which  they  called 
Bethsaida,  and  saw  our  luggage-train  coming  up 
through  the  plain  of  Gennesaret.  Landing  a  few 
rods  below  Kahn  Minyeh,  our  good-natured  fisher- 
men accompanied  us  out  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the 
place  where  our  horses  were  already  awaiting  us. 
Coming   to  a  brook  too  wide  to  step  over,  one  of 


SEA  OF  GALILEE.  437 

them  stepped  into  the  water,  and  putting  his  strong 
arm  around  me  lifted  me  to  the  other  side  as  lightly 
as  if  I  had  been  a  child.  We  passed  through  a 
jungle,  and  then  came  to  a  patch  of  the  rankest 
wheat  I  ever  saw,  though  it  had  evidently  been 
planted  in  the  most  slovenly  way.  What  land  this 
plain  of  Gennesaret  is !  Our  horses  were  now  in 
sight,  but  our  friendly  boatmen  did  not  leave  us. 
They  held  our  stirrups  when  we  mounted,  and  shook 
hands  with  us  with  an  unmistakable  cordiality.  It 
was  the  only  instance  of  any  attention  being  paid  us 
in  a  special  way  by  the  natives,  in  all  Palestine,  that 
did  not  seem  to  contemplate  backsheesh.  For  one,  I 
felt  gratified  that  this  exceptional  instance  should 
appear  in  the  case  of  fishermen,  on  the  Lake  of 
Galilee. 

Passing  northward,  we  ascended  out  of  the  plain, 
and  soon  reached  the  summit  of  the  mountain, 
where  we  had  the  lake  in  full  view  again.  We 
paused  upon  our  horses  to  look  upon  it  for  the  last 
time.  Perhaps  it  is  natural,  if  not  excusable,  in 
writing  about  these  hallowed  places,  after  having 
seen  them,  to  exaggerate  the  emotions  which  were 
felt  at  the  moment.  But  of  that  one  sin  I  have  not 
been  guilty.  Any  statements  of  the  sort  that  I  have 
made  have  been  well  considered,  and  certainly  this 
last  sight  of  the  waters  so  often  traversed  by  the 
Master,  and  around  which  so  great  a  portion  of  his 
teaching  and  his  mighty  works  were  done,  I  did 
experience  the  deepest  sensibility.  Standing  upon 
the  shore,  just  down  there,  with  the  lake  spre?d  out 
before  Him,  and  the  harvest-covered  slopes  in  the 
background,  He  had  called  Simon,  and  Andrew,  his 


43&  SEA  OF  GALILEE. 

brother,  from  among  just  such  fishermen  as  we  had 
been  with  this  morning,  to  be  fishers  of  men.  He 
had  cast  his  commanding  eye  on  the  sons  of  Zeb- 
edee,  in  the  boat  with  their  father,  mending  their 
net,  saying,  "  Follow  me,"  and  they  "  left  their 
father  and  the  ship  and  followed  Him."  There  in 
Capernaum  sat  Matthew  "at  the  receipt  of  custom," 
wrhen  the  charm  of  the  Divine  voice  withdrew  him 
from  his  money-bags,  and  he,  too,  forsook  all,  and 
making  a  feast  at  which  the  friends  he  was  leaving 
and  the  Master  he  was  going  with  should  meet, 
thenceforth  followed  Him  whithersoever  he  went. 
Out  there,  in  such  a  boat  as  we  had  been  in,  He  was 
asleep  on  a  pillow  in  the  hinder  part  of  the  ship — 
much  in  the  same  position  as  we  had  seen  one  of  the 
boatmen  asleep  to-day — when  a  fierce  s&orm  of  wind 
swept  down  from  the  mountains,  and  the  disciples, 
affrighted,  called  Him,  and  he  arose  to  rebuke  the 
wind  and  the  sea.  There,  in  the  dead  of  night,  he 
had  come  to  His  disciples  in  the  boat,  walking  on 
the  tempestuous  waters.  Overlooking  it,  probably 
on  the  heights  of  Hattin,  He  had  delivered  the  Ser- 
mon cf  sermons.  In  sight  of  its  waters,  whether  on 
Tabor  or  Hermon,  He  had  been  transfigured.  There 
His  gifts  of  healing  were  showered  among  the  peo- 
ple with  a  divine  beneficence.  All  its  hills  and  all 
its  ripples  had  been  made  radiant  by  His  presence. 
Even  after  He  suffered  he  had  met  his  heart- 
broken disciples  there,  after  their  night  of  fruitless 
toil,  feeding  them,  with  human  tenderness,  with  fish 
broiled  upon  a  "  fire  of  coals,"  and  with  divine  com- 
passion restoring  the  apostate  Peter. 

For  a  few  hours  my  eyes  had  feasted  themselves 


WONDERS  OF  THE  JORDAN.  439 

upon  its  scenery,  lovely — so  I  think — in  itself;  unut- 
terably so  in  its  history.  I  had  bathed  in  its  waters, 
had  gathered  pebbles  upon  its  beach,  slept  upon  its 
shore,  and  sailed  upon  its  surface.  At  Jerusalem  I 
had  touched  upon  his  sacrificial  death,  here  I  had 
communed  with  his  all-gracious  life. 

As  I  sat  there  on  horseback,  gazing  upon  it  for 
the  last  time,  the  whole  scene  entered  too  deeply 
into  my  heart  to  be  forgotten.  I  am  sure  it  will 
never  fade.  I  turned  my  horse's  head  and  left  it — 
or  rather,  in  a  deeper  sense,  I  carried  it  away,  a  rich 
possession  of  the  soul  forever. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

THE  WONDERS  OF  THE  JORDAN. 

/T\FTER  leaving  the  Lake  of  Galilee  we  pro- 
£-A/  ceeded  northward  some  miles  over  a  rocky, 
mountainous  road,  lying  parallel  with  the  river, 
but  three  or  four  miles  to  the  west,  when  suddenly 
before  us,  and  to  our  right,  a  large  valley  opened, 
having  a  lake  in  the  midst.  Of  course  it  was  Lake 
Merom  and  the  upper  Jordan  valley.  I  was  quite 
unprepared  to  find  this  valley  so  large.  The  bot- 
tom-land must  be  six  or  eight  miles  wide,  and  three 


440  WONDERS  OF  THE  JORDAN. 

times  as  long,  or  more.  It  was  as  green  as  the  val- 
ley of  the  Nile,  with  the  barren  mountains  of  Galilee 
on  the  west,  and  of  the  Hauron  on  the  east,  the  foot- 
hills of  Hermon  on  the  north,  and  the  snow-clad 
summit  of  the  great  mountain  farther  back,  a  little  to 
the  east  of  north. 

The  valley  was  dotted  with  villages  of  the  pastoral 
Bedouins.  The  Bedouin  tents  are  usually  made  of  a 
coarse  fabric  of  woven  goat's  hair,  and  are  as  black 
as  the  "tents  of  Kedar."  But  those  we  saw  here  are 
made  of  a  sort  of  reed  matting.  A  few  were  covered 
with  the  black  goat's-hair  cloth.  But  generally  the 
covering  and  all  was  made  of  matting,  Their  wealth 
consists  almost  exclusively  of  cattle,  with  a  few  buf- 
falo— the  same  ugly  creature  that  we  saw  in  such 
numbers  in  China,  India  and  Egypt,  but  have  seen 
nowhere  in  Palestine  or  Syria,  except  in  this  upper 
valley  of  the  Jordan.  The  Bedouins  elsewhere  are 
famous  horse-breeders,  but  here  they  seem  to  raise 
cattle  exclusively.  I  suppose  they  find  a  market  for 
them  in  Damascus,  which  is  only  three  or  four  days 
distant.  I  presume  they  subsist  to  a  great  extent 
upon  the  flesh  and  milk  of  their  herds.  The  pas- 
turage of  this  alluvial  region — for  this  valley  is  all 
alluvium — is  exuberant.  We  saw  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  cattle  feeding  upon  it,  but  nowhere  did 
it  seem  to  be  fed  down. 

Much  of  the  valley  is  overflowed  in  the  winter, 
and  a  good  deal  of  it  is  marshy  always.  The  banks 
of  the  river  and  the  shores  of  the  lake  are  very  low. 
Toward  the  border  of  the  valley  the  land  is  higher, 
and  much  of  it  is  in  cultivation.  The  crops  gener- 
ally are  very  fine.-    The  wheat,  just  now  in  full  head, 


WONDERS  OF  THE  JORDAN.  44 1 

promises  a  generous  harvest.  There  are  a  good 
many  plowmen  now  a-field,  breaking  up  the  soil  to 
plant  dhura,  a  coarse  sort  of  grain  that  is  used  for 
feeding  stock,  and  often  also  for  bread.  But  what  a 
feeble  battle  with  these  rank  weeds  the  little  shovel- 
plows  do  make,  drawn  by  a  single  yoke  of  oxen,  and 
they  often  very  small.  O,  for  a  plow  worthy  of  the 
name,  and  a  California  team  to  draw  it !  What  har- 
vests might  then  be  gathered  ! 

At  about  three  o'clock,  p.  m.,  we  camped  in  the 
edge  of  the  valley,  on  the  bank  of  a  beautiful  stream, 
within  two  hundred  yards  of  the  point  where  it  issues 
from  the  foot  of  the  mountain.  A  small  part  of  its 
waters  run  a  little  mill  above  our  camp.  I  stepped 
from  stone  to  stone  across  a  part  of  the  stream, 
which  spreads  over  a  wide  bed  of  pebbles,  and  went 
in  to  inspect  the  work  of  the  mill.  It  is  a  small, 
square,  stone  structure.  Two  sets  of  small  stones 
were  running,  surrounded  by  a  rising  platform  which 
occupies  one  side  of  the  house.  The  top  of  the 
lower  stone  stood  a  little  above  the  level  of  the  plat- 
form. The  upper  stone  was  not  surrounded  by  any 
casing.  It  was  grinding  dhura,  the  meal  coming  out 
upon  the  platform  all  round  the  stones."  As  it  accu- 
mulated it  was  drawn  by  hand  into  a  box-like  recep- 
tacle, which  was  sunk  into  the  platform.  In  one 
of  these  boxes,  which  had  been  filled,  a  man  was 
standing  in  the  meal  with  his  bare  feet,  scooping 
it  out  and  putting  it  in  a  sack.  The  miller  gets 
about  three  cents  a  bushel,  as  nearly  as  I  could 
understand  it,  for  grinding,  and  pays  a  tax  of  five 
Napoleons  (twenty  dollars)  a  year  for  the  privilege. 
When  I  left,  the  miller  accompanied  me  to  the  edge 


442  WONDERS  OF  THE  JORDAN. 

of  the  stream,  having  noticed  that  I  had  stepped 
from  stone  to  stone  rather  totteringly,  and  offered 
me  a  ride  on  his  back,  which  I  accepted.  Having 
been  comfortably  landed,  I  gave  him  three  coppers, 
which,  all  taken  together,  were  not  quite  of  the 
value  of  one  cent  of  our  money.  He  accepted  it 
with  gratitude,  and  we  parted.  Think  of  the  owner 
of  a  water-mill,  glad  to  carry  a  man  across  the  creek, 
not  as  an  act  of  hospitality,  but  for  the  fee,  and  that 
one  cent!  Poor  fellow,  he  was  in  rags,  and  I  doubt 
not  that  after  his  tax  is  paid,  and  repairs  of  his  mill 
provided  for,  there  remains  but  little  for  him  and  his 
household.  It  grinds  amazingly  slow ;  yet  it  is  a 
great  improvement  over  woman-power,  which  is  in 
very  general  use  from  China  to  Syria. 

Nothing  would  do  my  two  friends  but  they  must 
bathe  in  Lake  Merom,  which  was  about  two  miles 
distant.  I  had  little  faith  in  the  enterprise,  for  I  felt 
sure,  by  the  look  of  things,  that  the  lake  shore  was  a 
swamp.  Being  somewhat  fatigued  by  the  day's  ride 
I  at  first  declined  to  accompany  them,  but,  upon  re- 
flection, concluded  to  do  so,  lest  they  might  require 
some  one  to  .pull  them  out  of  the  mud.  Before  we 
were  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  shore  Mr. 
Hendrix's  horse,  which  was  in  advance,  began  to 
sink  so  deep  into  the  wet  soil  that  Mr.  Samson  and 
I  paused.  But  H.,  intrepid  and  eager  for  the  bath, 
urged  his  horse  on — deeper,  deeper,  deeper.  He 
had  gone  beyond  the  bounds  of  prudence,  and  soon 
discovered  the  fact.  There  was  a  fine  expression  of 
solicitude  in  his  eye  as  he  turned  and  gazed  toward 
terra  fir; na.  The  solicitude  must  have  gone  down  to 
his  heels,  for  they  plied  the  sides   of  his  floundering 


WONDERS  OF  THE  JORDAN.  443 

steed  very  vigorously.  I  did  really  fear  for  a  mo- 
ment that  the  noble  brute  would  not  be  able  to  get 
back.  What  ludicrous  associations  of  ideas  will 
sometimes  obtrude  themselves  upon  a  man  even  in 
a  critical  moment!  I  thought  of  the  Florida  con- 
stable's indorsement  on  the  writ:  "Ad  in  swampum 
et  non  comatibus!'  Did  I  smile?  I  hope  that  ques- 
tion will  not  be  pressed. 

We  were  lulled  to  sleep  that  night  by  the  musical 
monotone  of  the  flowing  confluent  of  the  Jordan,  on 
the  very  bank  of  which  our  tent  had  been  pitched. 

The  next  morning  for  some  hours  our  road  lay 
along  the  western  edge  of  the  valley,  just  along  by 
the  foot  of  the  mountains.  The  valley  to  our  right 
was  alive  with  Bedouin  villages  and  cattle.  Farther 
on  our  road  passed  through  two  or  three  of  these 
villages.  As  this  is  the  road  taken  by  tourists  to 
Damascus,  the  children  have  picked  up  an  English 
salutation.  The  little  bare-footed  and  bare-headed 
crowds,  boys  and  girls,  shouted  to  us  as  we  passed, 
"  Good  morning."  The  demand  for  backsheesh,  how- 
ever, was  less  clamorous  than  I  expected  to  hear. 
Many  of  the  men  and  women  greeted  us  pleasantly. 
They  never  failed  to  scold  the  dogs  back  when  they 
rushed  out  at  us,  as  they  did  constantly,  and  in  a 
very  ferocious  manner.  Two  of  our  party  rode  up 
to  one  of  the  tents,  to  look  inside  and  inspect  the 
furniture  and  general  arrangement,  when  a  woman, 
with  eager  hospitality,  hastened  to  offer  them  a  drink 
of  butter-milk.  One  of  them  who  drank  of  it  pro- 
nounced it  very  delicious. 

We  soon  reached  the  head  of  the  main  valley,  and, 
turning  to  the  east,  crossed  some  rocky  points,  and 


444  WONDERS  OF  THE  JORDAN. 

in  an  hour  or  two  found  ourselves  upon  the  western 
branch  of  these  upper  streams,  which  unite  a  few 
miles  below,  and  form  the  Jordan.  We  heard  the 
flow  of  its  waters  before  we  saw  them,  the  stream 
being  fringed  by  a  line  of  heavy  foliage.  Here  the 
road  turned  to  the  left  again,  and  we  ascended  the 
stream  through  a  rocky  gorge  a  mile  or  two,  and 
then  crossed  it  on  a  stone  bridge.  Here  our  drago- 
man stopped  to  converse  with  a  man  we  met,  and 
we  passed  on,  ascending  a  steep  hill  over  as  ugly  a 
piece  of  naked,  rugged  rock  as  it  was  ever  my  for- 
tune to  encounter.  Soon  the  dragoman  came  up  in 
great  haste,  and  much  excited.  He  had  just  been 
informed  that  two  days  before  the  Bedouins  had 
attacked  and  robbed  a  party  at  this  very  place. 

It  was  our  purpose  to  make  a  detour  from  the  road 
here,  in  order  to  see  the  fountain  in  which  this  stream 
rises.  But  the  dragoman  insisted  that  we  should  all 
remain  together,  and  keep  close  to  the  luggage-train. 
In  these  war-times  the  Bedouins  were  becoming  bold, 
and  committing  many  depredations.  We  thought 
it  prudent  to  follow  his  advice,  and  so  missed  seeing 
this  one  of  the  " sources  of  the  Jordan" — much  to 
our  regret. 

As  we  ascended  the  hill,  Azeez  was  in  front. 
Azeez  was  in  charge  of  our  lunch,  and  always 
accompanied  us.  He  was  an  imperturbable  man, 
though  with  an  under-current  of  humor.  Reaching 
the  summit,  he  shouted,  "  Bedouins  !  Bedouins  ! ' 
and  flourished  his  big  pistol.  Upon  such  an  alarm 
our  dragoman,  who  had  fallen  to  the  rear,  felt  duty- 
bound  to  gallop  up.  Alas  for  chivalry!  I  could 
not  but  contrast  his  bearing  at  this  moment  with  that 


WONDERS  OF  THE  JORDAN.  445 

we  had  witnessed  in  the  sham  fight  at  the  Dead  Sea. 
Then  he  was  boiling  over  with  courage,  sat  erect, 
and  in  defiant  attitude,  flourished  his  pistols,  and 
dashed  at  the  foe  with  furious  speed.  Now  the 
feeble  effort  to  look  brave  was  really  ludicrous. 
His  very  horse  galloped  slowly  and  hesitating 
he  were  just  ready  to  turn  upon  his  heels,  while  he 
himself  sat  in  the  saddle  with  a  drooped  and  pitiful 
aspect,  which  completely  dispelled  the  illusion  of  the 
sham  battle.  I  could  never  afterward  imagine  that 
he  had  the  look  of  Mars.  In  fact  he  caaie  quite 
down,  all  in  a  moment,  to  the  level  of  ordinary  mor- 
tals. All  this  upon  a  false  alarm  ;  if  the  Bedouins 
had  actually  appeared,  to  what  diminutiveness  he 
might  have  shriveled  I  cannot  guess. 

We  were  now  in  the  foot-hills  of  Mount  Hermon, 
but  they  were  only  hills,  and  for  the  most  part  I 
might  say  undulations.  Before  us  were  the  middle 
and  eastern  branches  of  the  Jordan.  The  sources  of 
the  Jordan  are  said  to  be  in  Mount  Hermon,  and  so 
they  are  ;  but  that  statement,  if  left  unexplained,  will 
give  the  reader  a  false  impression.  The  three  prin- 
cipal streams  which  come  together  above  Lake 
Merom,  and  form  the  Jordan,  come  out  of  the  ground 
near  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  at  their  full  size. 
They  do  not  grow  by  the  confluence  of  rills  upon 
the  surface.  On  the  contrary,  the  water  of  the 
mountains  sinks  through  fissures  in  the  rocks,  is  col- 
lected into  considerable  bodies  under-ground,  and, 
then  flowing  through  clefts  of  the  rocks,  or  through 
beds  of  gravel,  comes  to  the  surface  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountain. 

These  fountains  are  not  so  high  up  in  the  moun- 


446  WONDERS  OF  THE  JORDAN. 

tain  as  I  had  imagined.  The  western  one  is  fairly 
up  in  the  foot-hills,  but  the  two  others  come  out,  the 
middle  one  where  the  valley  begins  to  rise  into  rather 
bold  undulations,  and  the  eastern  just  at  the  foot  of 
the  first  cliffs  of  the  Anti-Lebanon  range,  which  are 
here  properly  the  cliffs  of  Mount  Hermon.  True, 
they  are  about  1,200  feet  above  Lake  Merom,  but 
the  approach  to  them  is  over  ground  that  rises  so 
gradually  as  to  belong  rather  to  the  plain  than  the 
mountain.  As  we  looked  down  upon  it  from  the 
first  summits,  the  places  where  they  rise  have  the 
appearance  of  being  in  the  upper  edge  of  the  valley 
of  Merom. 

Our  road  passed  just  to  the  north  of  the  head  or 
fountain  of  the  second  or  middle  branch,  and  within 
a  few  yards  of  it.  We  rode  to  the  very  spot.  The 
immediate  point  of  its  egress  from  the  ground  was 
so  covered  with  shrubbery  that  it  was  concealed,  but 
we  saw  the  water  as  it  emerged  from  the  mass  of 
foliage  and  flowed  away. 

Near  by  was  the  site  of  the  old  city  of  Dan.  It 
stood,  not  as  I  had  it  pictured  in  my  mind,  up  in  the 
mountains,  but  on  rather  a  slight  elevation  in  the 
upper  reaches  of  the  great  plain.  There  is  but  little 
there  now.  The  name  of  the  modern  village  near 
by  I  do  not  remember.  The  situation  is  rather  com- 
manding, and  the  landscape  magnificent,  and  in 
many  parts  beautiful.  The  whole  extent  of  the  val- 
ley of  Lake  Merom  is  in  view  on  the  south,  the  spurs 
of  Mount  Lebanon  rise  on  the  west,  while  the  low 
ridge  which  divides  Palestine  from  Ccele-Syria 
stretches  along  on  the  north,  and  Hermon — Jebel 
Es  Sheikh,  the  Prince  of  Mountains,  as  the  natives 


WONDERS  OF  THE  JORDAN.  447 

proudly  name  him — with  masses  of  snow  scattered 
about  upon  his  crest,  towers  up  to  the  north-east. 
A  goodly  place  those  heroic  Danites  won  for  them- 
selves at  the  very  head  of  the  river. 

Our  course  lay  now  about  due  north-east,  crossing 
a  ridge  of  unusual  contour  for  this  country.  It  is  a 
swell,  lying  north  and  south,  and  is  covered  with  a 
scrubby  growth  of  trees.  I  say  covered,  but  to  an 
American  it  would  not  seem  so  close  set  as  that 
word  implies.  Still  it  is  the  nearest  approach  to  it 
to  be  found  anywhere  in  this  country. 

Having  crossed  this  ridge  we  came  upon  the  east- 
ern branch  of  the  Jordan,  and  followed  it  a  short 
way  up  to  the  base  of  the  precipitous  spurs  of  Leba- 
non, to  the  town  oi  Banias — the  Cesarea  Philippi  of 
the  New  Testament.  The  village  lies  at  the  base  of 
the  mountain.  Springs  break  out  on  all  sides,  and 
flow  off  into  the  valley  in  copious  rivulets.  Follow- 
ing the  mountain  eastward  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile, 
you  come  to  a  sheer  precipice  of  rock,  at  the  base  of 
which  there  is  a  strip  of  level  ground  a  few  yards 
wide,  from  which  an  abrupt  descent  takes  you  down 
to  the  point  where  this  branch  of  the  Jordan  comes 
into  the  daylight. 

It  does  not  burst  out  of  a  fissure  in  the  rock  all 
in  one  body,  but  flows  copiously  out  of  a  bed  of 
coarse  pebbles.  The  line  along  which  it  flows  out, 
is  perhaps  fifty  yards  long,  the  first  flow  being  over  a 
wide  space  and  very  shallow.  It  is  soon  compressed 
into  a  narrower  channel,  and  rushes  away  headlong 
over  a  rapidly  descending  bed. 

The  name  of  the  west  branch,  the  head  of  which 
we    did    not  see,   is   Derdora — that  of    the   middle, 


448  WONDERS  OF  THE  JORDAN. 

Little  Jordan,  and  of  the  east,  Banias.  The  prin- 
cipal one  is  the  Little  Jordan,  and  the  second  in 
magnitude  is  the  Banias.  But  the  Derdora  comes 
down  from  a  higher  point  in  the  mountains  than  the 
two  larger  streams,  which  originate,  as  I  have  said, 
one  of  them  quite  in  tlie  open  plains  at  the  city  of 
Dan,  and  the  other  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  at 
Banias — that  is,  Cesarea  Philippi. 

We  have  no  knowledge  of  our  Lord's  having 
ever  visited  the  city  of  Cesarea  Philippi.  Once  he 
was  in  "  the  coasts,"  that  is,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
it — and  this  was  very  near  the  end  of  his  life.  Here 
Peter  made,  for  himself  and  the  twelve,  the  formal 
confession,  "  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the 
living  God,"  receiving  the  answer,  "Thou  art  Peter, 
and  on  this  rock  will  I  build  my  Church,  and  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it."  This  was 
said,  no  doubt,  amid  the  spurs  and  rocks  of  Her- 
mon.  Only  six  days  later  he  was  transfigured  in  a 
"high  mountain," perhaps  one  of  the  mountains  of 
this  very  cluster.  At  any  rate,  immediately  after 
that  great  event,  he  made  his  last  journey  to  Jerusa- 
lem to  be  offered  up — going  down  on  the  east  side 
of  the  river,  which  he  recrossed  only  a  few  miles 
above  the  Dead  Sea,  and  taking  Jericho  in  the  way 
where  he  healed  the  blind  man,  and  brought  salva- 
tion to  the  house  of  Zaccheus.  So  that  his  visit  to 
this  extreme  northvrn  part  of  Galilee  was  just  on  the 
eve  of  his  death,  as  was  also  the  great  confession  of 
the  apostles.  The  question  occurred  to  me  :  "  Was 
there  any  special  meaning  in  this,  that  the  formal 
and  solemn  proclamation  of  the  Messiahship  ot  Jesus 
was  made  at  the  very  extremity  of  the  Holy  Land, 


WONDERS  OF  THE  JORDAN.  449 

and  on  the  borders  of  the  Gentile  world  ?  Why- 
should  he  wander  up  here  into  this  region,  on  the 
great  highway  of  the  nations,  for  this  solemn  trans- 
action ?  Was  it  the  yearning  of  his  heart  toward 
the  world  ?  Did  he  stand  by  the  partition  wall  at 
that  supreme  moment  that  his  word  might  break  it 
down?  Was  he  showing  his  disciples  already  the 
way  to  Antioch — to  Damascus — to  the  world  ?  " 

Along  the  very  road  by  which  our  Lord  "came 
into  the  coasts  of  Cesarea  Philippi,"  Saul  of  Tarsus 
must  have  gone  on  his  way  towards  Damascus,  with 
11  letters  from  the  chief  priests,"  on  the  occasion  of 
that  momentous  journey,  when,  having  come  near  to 
the  end  of  it,  a  glory  which  exceeded  that  of  the 
transfiguration  smote  him  blind,  that  his  eyes  might 
be  opened  to  behold  the  "  true  light  which  lighteth 
every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world,"  and  felled 
him  to  the  earth  that  he  might  rise  to  the  dignity  of 
the  sons  of  God. 

Our  tent  at  Cesarea  Philippi  stood  at  the  base  of 
the  mountain,  on  which  are  the  ruins  of  an  old  castle. 
There  is  a  circuitous  route  by  which  they  may  be 
reached  on  horseback;  but  as  our  guide-book  in- 
formed us  that  we  could  make  the  ascent  in  an  hour 
on  foot,  H.  and  I  concluded  to  let  our  horses  rest, 
and  so  we  started  out  with  a  guide  on  foot,  accom- 
panied by  Mr.  Samson  on  a  little  donkey,  he  having 
been  lamed  by  a  kick  from  a  horse  some  days  before. 
We  wound  our  way  round  and  round,  at  a  painful 
angle  upward  all  the  while,  for  a  full  hour  and  a  half, 
when,  to  our  dismay,  coming  suddenly  round  a  point, 
the  peak  on  which  the  castle  stands  came  in  sight, 

15* 


450  WONDERS  OF  THE  JORDAN. 

and  we  saw  it  rising  like  another  mountain  still  above 
us.     But  perseverance,  etc. 

An  inscription  points  to  the  t'  :rteenth  century 
as  the  date  of  some  of  the  work  done  here.  It  was 
probably  repaired  or  enlarged  at  that  time,  but  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  the  foundations  were  laid  in 
the  old  Roman  times.  Portions  of  the  entire  wall 
are  standing,  and  in  some  places  they  are  still  very 
high.  The  rocks  of  which  it  was  built  are  very  mas- 
sive ;  many  of  them  would  weigh  several  tons  each. 
Perhaps  they  were  obtained  in  flattening  the  summit 
of  the  mountain  for  the  building.  It  seems  almost 
impossible  that  they  should  have  been  brought  up 
this  mountain ;  but  the  cyclopean  labors  of  the  an- 
cients are  so  numerous  and  so  stupendous  that  one 
comes  to  be  prepared,  after  a  while,  to  believe  almost 
anything  in  this  line. 

This  was  a  fortification  of  immense  strength,  both 
on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  approach,  and  the 
impregnable  character  of  the  walls.  An  amount  of 
stone  has  fallen  from  them  sufficient  to  cumber  the 
whole  brow  of  the  mountain,  and  yet  in  some  places 
they  are  still  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet  high.  Not 
only  the  thickness  of  the  wall,  but  the  great  size  of 
the  individual  stones,  rendered  it  exceedingly  strong. 
It  covers  the  whole  area  of  the  summit,  which  was 
probably  cut  down  and  flattened  for  it — and  from 
the  wall  the  angle  of  descent  is  so  sharp  that  no 
engines  could  have  been  planted  writhin  reach  of  it, 
so  that  it  was  unassailable  by  battering-ram  or  cata- 
pult. Immense  reservoirs  of  water  are  standing  in 
it,  so  that  it  seems  to  have  been  well  supplied  in  that 


WONDERS  OF  THE  JORDAN.  45  I 

respect.     Nothing   but   starvation  could   have   over- 
come a  garrison  occupying  it. 

We  clambered  to  the  top  of  a  tower  near  the 
south-west  corner,  which  raises  its  shattered  head 
above  the  rest  of  the  ruins,  where  we  sat  and  gazed 
out  for  the  last  time  upon  Lake  Pvlerom  and  its  beau- 
tiful valley,  framed  by  mountains  on  all  sides.  From 
this  elevation  we  saw  quite  a  number  of  small  lakes 
in  the  valley,  above  Lake  Merom.  The  level  sun 
was  almost  ready  to  disappear  beyond  the  ridges  of 
the  Lebanon,  which  were  already  easting  their 
shadow  over  half  the  valley.  The  effect  of  the 
shading  was  very  fine.  It  was  one  of  those  scenes 
in  which  nature  seems  to  take  on  an  aspect  of  beauty 
beyond  its  wont — when  the  inner  secrets  of  things 
come  out  upon  the  surface,  and  God  affixes  his  sign- 
manual  and  seal  upon  his  works.  The  moment,  too, 
was  auspicious.  We  three  who  sat  together  on  that 
shattered  throne  of  the  god  of  war  had  been  for  a 
month  following  the  footprints  of  the  Prince  of  Peace, 
and  were  now  looking  fur  the  last  time  upon  the 
regions  made  memorable  by  his  presence  while  he 
was  in  the  flesh.  No  wonder  if  we  were  in  a  subjec- 
tive condition  which  made  us  in  a  higher  degree 
recipient  of  divine  meanings  in  nature. 

My  last  look  upon  Jerusalem  from  Scopus,  upon 
the  Lake  of  Galilee  from  the  mountains  to  the  north- 
ward of  it,  and  upon  the  upper  valley  and  the  sources 
of  the  Jordan  from  the  ruined  castle  of  Banias,  con- 
stitute a  series  of  experiences  for  which  I  can  never 
cease  to  praise  God. 

But  the  visitor  to  the  Holy  Land  must  not  come 
expecting  to  find  its  beauty  such  as  will  answer  to 


45  2  WONDERS  OF  THE  JORDAN. 

his  expectations  or  sentiments.  Much  of  the  coun- 
try is  a  mere  stretch  of  barren,  rocky  hills.  There 
are  not  wanting  many  visitors  who  see  little  or  no 
beauty  anywhere.  To  my  eye  there  are  many 
beautiful  landscapes ;  yet  many  parts  of  Americ? 
afford  far  richer  scenery.  We  see  Palestine  in  the 
light  of  a  religious  feeling  before  we  visit  it,  and  the 
divine  radiance  constitutes  a  medium  through  which 
all  appears  in  an  unreal  coloring.  The  effect  of  an 
actual  visit  is  diverse  in  different  individuals.  In 
some  the  prepossession  of  religious  sentiment  is 
so  strong,  and  occupies  the  imagination  so  com- 
pletely, as  to  project  itself  upon  all  they  see — so  that 
to  them  the  very  desert  becomes  a  paradise  of 
beauty,  every  mountain  glows  in  the  light  of  another 
transfiguration,  the  poorest  and  most  naked  land- 
scape is  transformed,  and  where  there  is  a  real 
beauty — as  there  often  is — it  appears  a  very  para- 
dise, a  new  Jerusalem  coming  down  from  God  out  of 
heaven.  In  others,  less  under  the  dominion  of  their 
prepossessions,  there  is  a  sudden  disenchantment. 
Jerusalem — they  have  seen  a  hundred  cities  more 
beautiful,  and  with  more  beautiful  surroundings. 
Even  the  Mount  of  Olives  suffers  in  comparison  with 
the  hills  they  rambled  over  in  childhood.  The  most 
beautiful  valleys  here  are  yet  not  so  lovely  as  those 
they  have  seen  in  Virginia  or  Kentucky.  The  Sea 
of  Galilee  itself  disappoints  them.  In  the  revulsion 
of  feeling  which  follows  they  are  unable  to  perceive 
the  beauties  that  would  otherwise  be  apparent. 

God  did  not  select  this  region  as  the  home  of  his 
chosen  people  on  account  of  its  beauty.  The  seats 
of  the  tabernacle  and  of  the  temple  were  not  chosen 


WONDERS  OF  THE  JORDAN.  453 

upon  any  grounds  of  natural  superiority.  The  local 
background  of  divine  manifestations  was  matter  of 
no  consequence.  Perhaps  it  were  better  that  it 
should  not  be  in  any  high  degree  attractive.  The 
glory  of  the  Shekinah  must  be  all  its  own.  Revela- 
tion must  run  no  risk  of  being  overlooked  and  dis- 
regarded through  the  too  great  interest  of  its  natural 
setting,  lest  the  glory  of  the  Creator  should  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  creature  ;  nor  yet  must  it  be  exposed  to 
the  danger  of  a  sensuous  degeneration  through  a  too 
vital  connection  with  scenes  of  physical  enchant- 
ment. 

The  true  interest  of  all  this  country  is  in  its  his- 
tory, though  a  man  in  sympathy  with  nature  will  see 
much  in  the  aspects  of  both  the  mountains  and  val- 
leys to  admire.  Those  who  fail  to  do  so  are  persons 
of  local  tastes,  who  can  appreciate  only  a  given  style, 
and  are  quite  incapable  of  a  broader  interest,  either 
in  art  or  nature,  than  that  which  attaches  to  objects 
conforming  to  their  type.  The  man  of  deep  insight 
and  true  sympathy — the  genuine  lover  of  nature — 
who  is  open  to  all  that  comes  to  him  in  its  multiform 
disclosures,  will  find  a  real  pleasure  here,  even  aside 
from  the  main  purpose  of  his  visit.  But  it  is,  after 
all,  because  Jerusalem  was  the  city  of  holy  solemni- 
ties, and  the  place  where  Jesus  suffered ;  because  the 
tabernacle  was  in  Shiloh,  and  Samuel  judged  Israel 
there  ;  because  our  Lord  sailed  upon  the  waters  of 
the  Lake  of  Galilee,  and  called  his  chief  disciples 
from  among  its  fishermen  ;  and  because  that  in  the 
coasts  of  Cesarea  Philippi  he  was  formally  confessed 
to   be   the  Son   of  the   living  God,  that  we  take  any 


454  DAMASCUS  AND  THE  BARADA. 

special  and   deep  interest  in  these  places,  and  come 
from  the  ends  of  the  earth  to  see  them. 


I 


< 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

DAMASCUS  AND  THE  BARADA. 

EAVING  Banias  for  Damascus,  the  road  passes 
over  the  southern  spurs  of  Mount  Hermon. 
Volcanic  rock  abounds.  In  fact,  the  road  at 
one  point  touches  the  crater  of  an  extinct  volcano. 
The  mountain-sides  show  the  same  features  as  those 
near  the  Dead  Sea — the  same  violent  contortions  of 
strata  with  the  same  kind  of  stone.  I  think  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  whole  of  the  Jordan  valley, 
including  the  Dead  Sea  at  one  end  and  the  Lebanon 
ranges  at  the  other,  was  once  disturbed  by  volcanic 
agencies  so  violently  as  to  have  received  its  confor- 
mation from  them.  Whether  the  unexampled  de- 
pression of  this  wonderful  valley  is  due  to  this  cause 
or  not,  I  am  sure  I  cannot  tell. 

A  few  hours  of  steady  traveling  puts  you  on  the 


DAMASCUS  AND  THE  BARADA.  455 

eastern  side  of  these  ridges,  and  into  the  border  of 
the  great  plain  stretching  eastward  toward  the  Eu- 
phrates. South  and  east  some  isolated  ridges  appear, 
but  they  are  of  limited  extent  and  of  no  great  eleva- 
tion. Cultivation  in  this  plain  depends  wholly  on 
irrigation.  In  this  edge  of  it  many  streams  coming 
down  out  of  the  mountains  are  bordered  by  fields  in 
the  valleys  which  they  make  ;  but  in  every  part  where 
irrigation  is  imprac  'cable  it  has  the  character  of  a 
desert. 

Before  coming  into  the  plain  we  saw  a  good  many 
small  valleys  in  the  mountains  which  were  cultivated, 
and  a  good  many  herds  of  cattle  which  find  sufficient 
pasturage  in  the  mountains.  The  Druses  live  in 
these  and  in  the  Lebanon  mountains.  We  were 
interested  in  the  first  villages  of  that  singular  people 
which  we  saw.  One  morning  we  passed  quite  a 
large  one  on  a  hill-side.  The  houses  were  not  so 
closely  crowded  together  as  is  usually  the  case  in  the 
villages  of  this  country.  At  a  distance  the  ranges  of 
houses  rising  on  the  mountain-side,  one  above 
another,  show  very  prettily.  As  we  came  near  the 
village  a  number  of  boys  came  running  out  to  the 
road  with  fossil  specimens  for  sale. 

The  Druses  originated,  as  nearly  as  I  can  gather, 
soon  after  the  incursion  of  Islamism  into  this  region. 
These  Arabs  of  the  mountains  were  but  partially 
converted  to  that  faith ;  and  in  the  uproar  and  tumult 
of  ideas  then  afloat  several  sects  were  formed  whose 
beliefs  were  grounded  upon  the  teachings  of  Moham- 
med in  part,  but  modified  by  their  own  crude  ideas 
and  semi-barbarous  customs.  Of  these  sects  the 
Druses  were  the  most  important,  perhaps — at  least, 


456  DAMASCUS  AND  THE  BARADA. 

they  have  become   the  most  widely  known,  having- 
been  brought  into  notice  by  the  massacre  of  i860. 

They  have  secret  rites  of  initiation,  and  their 
religious  beliefs  are  scrupulously  concealed.  Their 
organization  is  not  purely  religious,  but  political  as 
well.  Their  chiefs,  or  sheiks,  are  implicitly  obeyed, 
and  have  the  power  of  life  and  death. 

The  Druses,  it  is  said,  are  hospitable  to  the  last 
degree  toward  those  who  are  admitted  to  their  hos- 
pitality. Once  the  stranger  is  in  the  house  of  the 
sheik,  and  has  broken  bread  there,  he  is  not  only 
secure  in  his  person,  but  may  depend  upon  being 
treated  with  the  highest  degree  of  hospitable  regard. 
But  to  offset  this  virtue  they  have  many  vices. 
They  are  deceitful  to  the  last  degree.  Among 
Christians  they  profess  to  be  Christians,  and  among 
Mussulmans  they  profess  to  be  Mussulmans. 

Between  them  and  their  neighbors,  the  Maronite 
Christians,  there  has  been  bitter  enmity  for  ages. 
The  fault  is  not  wholly  with  the  Druses,  for  it  is  not 
to  be  supposed  that  those  Maroiiites  are  very  exem- 
plary Christians.  Intense  and  bigoted  they  are  in 
their  faith,  but  as  to  morals  they  are  little  better 
than  the  Druses  themselves.  No  doubt  it  is  in  the 
hearts  of  both  parties  to  exterminate  each  other. 

After  the  treaty  of  Paris  of  1856  the  conviction 
became  prevalent  here  that  the  Christian  Powers 
would  abstain  from  any  interference  in  the  internal 
affairs  of  the  Turkish  Government.  The  Druses 
knew  the  hatred  of  the  Turks  toward  the  Christians, 
and,  in  the  absence  of  European  interference,  they 
knew  that  the  Turkish  Government  would  do  nothing 
to  protect  them,  nor  punish  any  crime  that  might  be 


DAMASCUS  AND  THE  BARADA.  45/ 

committed  against  them.  The  moment  to  gratify 
the  enmity  of  ages  had  come.  Indeed,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  Druses  and  Turks  had  an  understand- 
ing with  each  other. 

Suddenly  the  massacre  broke  out  in  Damascus, 
and  spread  among  the  villages  in  the  mountains.  It 
lasted  for  several  days,  and  many  thousands  of  Chris- 
tians perished,  both  in  the  city  and  in  the  villages. 
In  one  respect  the  Druses  were  right  in  their  expec- 
tations— the  Turkish  authorities  showed  no  disposi- 
tion to  protect  the  Christians,  nor  to  punish  their 
murderers.  But  they  had  miscalculated  in  another 
particular.  They  did  not  know  the  temper  of  the 
European  Governments.  The  news  of  the  atrocities 
aroused  the  civilized  world,  and  the  Sultan  soon 
learned  that  unless  he  took  measures  to  punish  the 
guilty  parties,  and  showed  himself  in  earnest  about 
it,  the  armies  of  Europe  would  avenge  the  blood  of 
the  Damascus  martyrs.  Not  only  were  the  Druse 
Sheiks  brought  to  punishment,  but  some  French 
regiments  penetrated  Syria,  and  many  of  the  fright- 
ened Druses  fled  to  the  Hauran,  and  have  never 
returned. 

It  is  said  that  those  who  remained  here  have  been 
declining  in  numbers  and  prosperity  ever  since,  and 
that  even  in  the  Hauran  a  blight  seems  to  have 
fallen  upon  them,  as  if  they  nad  filled  the  measure  of 
their  iniquity,  and  were  now  perishing. 

After  emerging  upon  the  plain  we  came  upon  a 
flush  mountain-stream,  not  over  two  feet  deep,  on 
the  bank  of  which  we  stopped  for  lunch.  Its  present 
name  I  do  not  remember,  but  in  Naaman's  time  it 
was  called  the  Pharpar.     It  does  not  flow  through 


458  DAMASCUS  AND  THE  BARADA. 

the  city  of  Damascus,  but  several  miles  south  of  it, 
though  one  or  two  of  its  canals  connect,  I  believe, 
with  the  system  of  canals  from  the  Barada,  or  Abana, 
by  which  the  city  and  its  outlying  gardens  are  irri- 
gated. 

On  a  confluent  of  the  same  stream  we  pitched  our 
tent  for  the  night.  As  we  approached  the  camp  our 
eyes  were  astonished  by  the  fringe  of  trees — not 
shrubs — that  lined  the  bank  of  the  stream  at  this 
point.  That  which  was  most  abundant  was  the 
slender  and  graceful  tree  which  we  call  Lombardy 
poplar  in  America,  and  which  is  indigenous  in 
Syria.  These  groves  of  tall,  slender  trees  constitute 
a  most  striking  feature  in  the  landscape  wherever 
they  occur.  The  heavy  green  foliage  contrasts  most 
vividly  with  the  naked  desert.  They  are  found  no- 
where except  along  the  water-courses. 

It  had  been  our  purpose  and  expectation  to  reach 
Damascus  on  Saturday,  but  we  found  it  impos- 
sible to  do  so  without  overworking  the  mules 
that  packed  our  luggage.  Our  camp  for  Saturday 
night  was  in  a  miserable  village  several  hours  from 

o  o 

the  city.  Should  we  spend  the  Lord's  day  there  in 
perfectly  objectless  repose  ?  or  should  we  ride  to  Da- 
mascus, and  endeavor  to  join  with  the  missionaries 
in  the  public  worship  of  God?  We  determined  upon 
the  latter  course.  But  we  had  been  misled  as  to  the 
time  required  for  the  ride,  and  had  the  mortification 
to  spend  the  entire  morning  in  the  saddle,  a::d  to 
find  ourselves,  on  arriving,  too  late  for  any  English 
service.  It  was  a  raw,  uncomfortable  day,  a::d  v  e 
were  glad  to  find  in  our  tent  the  opportunity  cf  read- 
ing the  word  of  God,  and  worshiping*  in  a  quiet  way. 


DAMASCUS  AND  THE  BARADA.  459 

As  we  approached  the  city  that  most  remarkable 
oasis  in  which  it  stands  came  into  full  view.  It  is 
about  eighteen  miles  square,  and  I  presume  there  is 
no  gree?ier  spot  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Trees  and 
gardens  cover  it  with  a  vendure  that  is  indescribable. 
We  saw  it  in  the  early  spring,  when  it  was  at  its 
freshest  and  best. 

The  city  stands  at  the  foot  of  the  Anti-Lebanon 
mountains,  just  where  the  river  Barada — the  Abana 
of  the  Scriptures — enters  the  plain.  This  is  a  small 
stream,  but  rushing  down  from  the  mountain  as  it 
does,  with  great  rapidity,  it  delivers  a  large  amount 
of  water.  So  soon  as  it  emerges  from  the  mountain 
it  is  tapped  by  canals,  which  distribute  the  water  in 
every  direction  through  the  city,  and  through  the 
plain  around  and  below  the  city,  to  the  lagoon, 
eighteen  miles  east,  in  which  it  is  lost. 

No  city  could  be  better  supplied  with  water.  The 
canals,  sometimes  open,  sometimes  running  under 
archways  beneath  streets  and  houses,  traverse  it  in 
every  part.  In  walking  through  the  city  one  is  often 
taken  by  surprise,  coming  upon  a  spot  where  the 
water  rushes  from  under  a  wall  ;  and  at  every  turn 
you  will  find  fountains  in  the  bazaar,  in  the  market, 
and  in  niches  in  the  walls  of  the  houses.  One  set  of 
canals  furnishes  pure  water  for  use,  while  another 
serves  for  drainage. 

All  the  fields  and  gardens  in  this  oasis  are  pro- 
tected by  concrete  fences,  such  as  I  have  seen  in 
south-western  Texas,  and  made  in  the  same  way. 
The  gravel  and  earth  are  thrown  together  into  a 
frame  on  the  spot  where  the  wall  is  to  be  made,  and 
beaten  down  solid    with  a  maul.     Upon  every  few 


460  DAMASCUS  AND  THE  BARADA. 

spadefuls  being  thrown  in  it  is  beaten  down  ;  thus 
it  becomes  extremely  hard.  The  frame  is  then 
removed,  leaving  the  wall  naked.  These  fences,  or 
more  properly  walls,  are  two  feet,  or  more,  in  thick- 
ness, and  five  or  six  feet  high,  so  that  in  many  cases 
the  traveler  on  horseback  can  hardly  see  the  ground 
inside.  They  mar  the  general  beauty  of  the  place 
greatly,  being  very  clumsy,  and  obstructing  the  view 
so  largely. 

The  population  of  Damascus  is  considerably  over 
100,000,  but  its  buildings  and  bazaars  are  not  what 
one  expects.  There  is  very  little  good  architecture 
here.  The  houses  are  low,  and  nearly  all  rather 
shabby.  The  bazaar  contrasts  strongly  with  that  of 
Cairo.  The  one  very  celebrated  mosque  is  in  a  poor 
style  of  art. 

The  "street  that  is  called  Straight "  is  sometimes 
ridiculed  by  superficial  tourists.  It  is  not,  in  fact, 
perfectly  straight,  but  it  is  the  only  street  in  the  city 
which  holds  a  persistently  straight  course  through 
from  one  side  to  the  other — a  general  course  which 
is  very  direct,  and  which  the  short  offsets  here  and 
there  do  not  interfere  with.  It  is  eminently  the 
straight  street  of  Damascus.  In  any  city  having  such 
a  system  of  streets — or,  rather,  such  a  no  system — 
with  one  thoroughfare  from  side  to  side,  bent  a  little 
here  and  there,  but  keeping  a  direct  course  through- 
out, this  very  name  would  be  most  naturally  given 
to  it. 

All  the  prophets  and  patriarchs  are  honored  by  the 
Mussulmans.  You  will  find  in  Damascus  the 
Mosque  of  the  "  Prophet  Solomon."  In  fact,  you 
have  to  come  to  this  country  to  learn  that  Abel  and 


DAMASCUS  AND  THE  BARADA.  46 1 

Seth,  and  almost  every  man  whose  name  appears  in 
the  Old  Testament,  were  prophets.  I  am  told  that 
the  average  Arab  Mussulman  thinks  that  Abraham, 
Moses,  Christ,  and  Mohammed,  all  lived  at  the  same 
time,  all  being  inspired  prophets,  the  greatest  of 
whom  was  Mohammed.  The  dense  ignorance,  even 
of  men  who  seem  to  be  intelligent  in  many  respects, 
in  regard  to  religion,  is  beyond  belief. 

There  is  a  Christian  and  a  Jewish  quarter  of  the 
city.  The  Christian  population  is  much  larger  than  I 
supposed,  and  some  of  the  leading  business  men  are 
of  this  faith.  We  had  been  told  that  it  would  be 
worth  while  to  see  the  inside  of  one  or  two  dwellings 
of  wealthy  Mohammedan  merchants,  and  that  there 
would  be  no  objection  on  the  part  of  the  proprietors. 
Our  guide,  however,  assured  us  that  it  was  impracti- 
cable, but  that  we  could  get  admission  to  the  pri- 
vate residences  of  some  Christians.  Moreover, .  he 
assured  us  that  the  most  elegant  residences  of  the 
city  were  the  property  of  Christians.  But  it  must  be 
understood  that  the  number  of  really  elegant  houses 
is  very  limited.  The  one  we  visited  did  not  impress 
us  favorably  on  the  outside,  though  we  were  informed 
it  was  the  best  in  the  city.  Inside  we  found  things 
wearing  an  aspect  of  Oriental  magnificence  that 
exceeded  our  expectation.  We  were  very  politely 
received  by  a  woman  of  thirty-five  or  forty,  who  was, 
no  doubt,  the  house-keeper.  She  had  an  air  of  good 
sense,  and  a  propriety  of  deportment  that  impressed 
us  very  favorably.  The  master  of  the  house  was  at 
Beyroot,  with  his  family.  We  were  shown  seats 
in    a    very   magnificent    drawing  room,    paved    with 


462  DAMASCUS  AND  THE  BARADA. 

marble    elegantly    laid    in    mosaic,    and    invited    to 
take  coffee,  which,  for  want  of  time,  we  declined. 

The  house  was  of  two  stories,  and  the  upper  apart- 
ments were  not  at  all  in  keeping  with  the  magnifi- 
cence of  those  below.  The  rooms  were  small,  and 
the  plain  pine  doors  not  even  painted.  What  a  con- 
trast between  the  part  which  was  for  use  and  that 
which  was  for  show  ! 

Our  guide  took  us  to  the  "house  of  Ananias,"  but 
we  did  not  go  in.  The  Christians,  scarcely  less  igno- 
rant than  the  Mohammedans,  seem  to  have  no  ques- 
tion that  this  modern  dwelling  is  the  very  one  in 
which  the  good  Ananias  lived.  They  will  show  you 
also  the  window  —  the  very  same  window  —  from 
which  St.  Paul  was  let  down  in  a  basket.  We  saw, 
in  fact,  a  number  of  windows  from  which  a  man 
might  be  very  well  lowered  over  the  wall,  and  so 
make  his  escape  from  the  city.  There  are  many 
houses  which  have  the  city  wall  for  their  back  wall, 
with  bay  windows  projecting  over  the  wall  of  the 
city,  that  of  the  house  rising  a  story  above.  Nothing 
would  be  more  inevitable  than  that  a  man's  friends 
would  let  him  down  from  such  a  window,  if  he  were 
in  danger  and  desired  to  escape. 

We  saw  two — and  only  two — business  houses  of 
good  size,  both  of  which  were  wholesale  establish- 
ments,  and    warehouses   for    grain    and    provisions. 
They  were   really  spacious,    having    massive   w  ills, 
and  each  being  surmounted  by  a  rotunda,  having  a 
gallery  round  it  at  the  base.     The  wooden  work 
the  gallery  had  a  look  of  age  that  was  indeed  imp 
sive.     Protected  from  the  weather,  and  subjected  i: 
no   friction,    it    still    seems   to    be    wearing    out. 


DAMASCUS  AND  THE  BARADA.  463 

looked  as  if  it  might  date  from  the  period  when  Dar- 
win's ancestors  were  tadpoles.  We  noticed  the  same 
thing  in  several  places. 

Among  other  places,  our  guide  showed  us  the 
slave-market,  where  people  come  two  days  in  the 
week  to  purchase  Nubian  women.  It  was  not  a 
market-day,  but  we  saw  two  of  the  women  that  were 
there  on  sale.  They  were  bad  stock,  one  of  them 
being  lunatic,  and  the  other  affecting  lunacy  with  so 
much  skill  as  to  keep  purchasers  off.  I  was  glad  to 
see,  that  though  they  were  only  an  expense  to  their 
owners,  they  were  evidently  treated  with  humanity. 

There  is  a  large  school  here,  founded  and  main- 
tained by  some  English  ladies.  It  seems  to  be 
doing  a  good  work.  The  American  Presbyterians 
have  a  branch  of  their  Syrian  Mission  here.  So  far 
as  we  had  time  to  inquire,  the  wTork  seems  to  be 
faithfully  done,  and  as  good  a  yield  of  fruit  appears 
as  could  be  expected  from  the  agencies  employed. 
But  it  is  only  a  drop  in  the  bucket.  Yet  the  leaven 
will  doubtless  spread. 

Before  leaving  our  camp  here  we  rode  out  to  see 
one  of  the  places  where  Saul  was  struck  down  by  the 
manifestations  of  the  Son  of  God.  This  locality  is 
7ioiv  just  outside  the  eastern  gate,  near  the  Christian 
burial-ground.  Formerly,  I  understand,  it  was  at  a 
more  distant  point,  and  in  a  different  direction.  It 
seems  to  be  shifted  about  to  suit  the  convenience  of 
those  who  make  tradition  a  trade,  with  very  little 
concern  about  the  probable  direction  in  which  Saul 
approached  the  city.  If  this  is  the  place,  then  he 
came    by   a   very    roundabout    way.      One    is   per- 


464  DAMASCUS  AND  THE  BARADA. 

petually  disgusted  by  the  absence  of  all  reason  and 
probability  in  these  traditions. 

Having  spent  Monday  in  seeing  the  city,  we  broke 
up  camp  on  Tuesday  morning,  and  started  across  the 
Anti-Lebanon  range  of  mountains  for  Baalbec.  But 
before  taking  a  final  leave  of  what  is  believed  to  be 
the  oldest  city  in  the  world,  we  must  ascend  the 
mountain  and  see  it  from  a  commanding  point.  We 
soon  left  all  verdure  behind  us, 'and  our  horses  were 
toiling  up  the  steep  mountain-path  toward  the 
''Tomb  of  the  Forty  Apostles."  Up,  up  we  climbed 
for  near  an  hour.  From  this  elevated  point  we  had 
the  city  and  the  entire  oasis  in  full  view.  The  form 
of  the  city  has  been  compared  to  a  spoon — it  is  much 
more  like  a  huge  pipe  with  a  long  stem — a  very  sin- 
gular contour.  This  is  the  only  striking  peculiarity 
discovered  in  the  view,  except  that  which  distin- 
guishes this  from  all  other  cities  in  the  world — its 
rich  emerald  setting. 

From  this  position  there  is  nothing  to  mar  the 
beauty  of  the  gardens,  the  concrete  fences  scarcely 
appearing  in  the  distance.  It  looks  like  a  forest,  the 
trees  being  distributed  so  as  to  conceal  the  cultivated 
parts.  Everywhere  the  slender  poplar  towers  above 
the  other  trees,  giving  a  most  picturesque  expression 
to  the  landscape  by  its  graceful  figure,  and  the  darker 
and  more  decided  hue  of  its  foliage. 

It  was  an  event  in  a  man's  life  to  touch  upon  this 
scene,  and  we  indulged  ourselves  in  reverie  for  some 
time.  This  was  already  an  old  city  when  Romulus 
and  Remus  were  quarreling  over  the  mud  huts  of 
their  village  on  the  Tiber,  when  the  foundations  of 
Tadmor  were  laid,  when  the  Jebusite  built  his  first 


DAMASCUS  AND  THE  BARADA.  465 

rude  fort  on  Mount  Zion.  This  was  a  center  of  com- 
merce as  long  ago  as  there  was  any  commerce. 
When  Abram's  affairs  became  so  large  as  to  be  un- 
wieldy he  employed  "this  Eliezer  of  Damascus,"  a 
man  trained  to  business  here,  to  take  charge  of  them. 
Perhaps  only  Babylon  was  as  old  or  older.  But 
Babylon  is  gone,  Tadmor  is  gone,  commerce  has 
been  shifting  its  centers  a  thousand  times,  nations 
have  come  into  existence,  played  their  great  trage- 
dies on  the  stage,  and  disappeared,  while  here  still 
stands  Damascus.  A  hundred  revolutions  have  been 
consummated  within  its  walls.  It  has  changed  mas- 
ters, perhaps,  ten  hundred  times.  It  saw  the  dawn 
of  history — it  is  likely  to  witness  the  end  of  time. 

The  Mohammedans  have  a  tradition  to  the  effect 
that  the  prophet,  in  one  of  his  mercantile  journeys, 
approached  Damascus,  but  on  coming  in  sight  of  it 
up  here  on  the  mountain,  he  exclaimed  that  as  no 
man  could  have  but  one  paradise  he  would  not  for- 
feit that  in  the  future  by  entering  this.  So  he  never 
set  foot  in  the  city.  Once  he  had  got  well  inside  he 
would  have  dismissed  all  apprehension   of  that  sort. 

We  descended  the  mountain  on  the  western  side, 
and  in  two  or  three  miles  came  to  the  diligence-road 
to  Beyroot,  which  follows  the  course  of  the  Barada 
for  some  miles.  We  were  to  make  camp  to-night  at 
Suk  Wady  Barada,  so  that  our  course  in  the  main 
would  be  along  the  river,  though  at  one  point  our 
dragoman  insisted  on  leaving  it  for  a  better  road. 
This  we  regretted,  when  we  learned  that  by  taking 
this  course  we  missed  seeing  the  great  fountain  in 
which  the  principal  part  of  the  waters  of  the  lower 
Barada  come  out  of  the  mountain  in  a  body. 


466  DAMASCUS  AND  THE  BARADA. 

All  along  this  stream  it  is  fringed  with  poplar  and 
other  growths,  and  where  the  precipitous  mountains 
retreat  a  little  here  and  there,  leaving  space  for  small 
valleys,  every  foot  is  in  cultivation.  In  many  places 
irrigating  ditches  are  taken  out  and  trained  along 
the  steep  mountain-sides,  so  that  even  they  are  made 
fruitful.  I  doubt  if  any  one  stream  of  the  same  vol- 
ume in  all  the  world  nourishes  as  much  life  as  this 
one.  Villages  stand  along  in  the  gorge  it  makes  in 
the  mountains,  often  at  intervals  of  only  a  mile  or 
two.  All  around  them  is  a  mass  of  desert  mountains 
except  those  acres  that  are  touched  by  the  water  of 
the  life-giving  river. 

Our  tent  was  pitched  in  a  gorge,  and  we  had  a 
very  disagreeable  night  on  account  of  a  fierce,  chilly 
wind.  Here  we  fell  in  with  a  party  traveling  under 
Cook's  auspices,  one  of  whom  was  Dr.  Philip 
S chaff,  with  whom  we  spent  a  delightful  evening. 
On  our  leaving  his  tent  at  9  o'clock  the  gray,  barren 
mountains,  towering  above  us  on  all  sides,  took  on 
an  aspect  of  weird  beauty  in  the  bright  moonlight 
that  seemed  to  me  the  most  peculiar  I  had  ever 
seen. 

The  next  morning  we  climbed  the  mountains  to 
the  right  of  the  road,  about  a  mile  from  the  village 
where  we  had  camped,  to  see  the  remains  of  an  old 
Roman  road,  which,  at  that  point,  was  cut  through  a 
mass  of  solid  and  very  hard  rock.  It  was  just  wide 
enough  for  two  chariots  to  pass.  The  sides  of  the 
rock  through  which  it  was  dug  are  perfectly  perpen- 
dicular, showing  even  yet  the  tool-marks,  and  con- 
trasting strikingly  with  the  powder-blasted  road-beds 
of  our   time,  which    leave   the   walls   all     reft   and 


DAMASCUS  AND  THE  BARADA.  467 

ragged.  At  one  point  a  space  was  polished  and  sur- 
rounded by  moulding.  In  the  panel  thus  made  is  a 
Latin  inscription,  setting  forth  that  this  road  was 
made  by  the  Emperor  Lucius  Verus  at  the  expense 
of  the  people  of  Abila.  So  solid  is  this  rock  that 
the  lettering  is  perfect  to  this  day.  This  was  in  the 
second  century  of  the  Christian  era. 

We  followed  the  course  of  the  upper  Barada  to  its 
head,  passing  over  on  to  a  confluent  of  the  Litany, 
where  we  camped  for  the  night.  It  was  difficult  to 
tell  where  we  passed  from  the  waters  of  one  stream 
to  those  of  the  other,  as  there  is  a  continuous  de- 
pression between  the  mountains  from  one  to  the 
other. 

On  the  upper  waters  of  the  Barada  its  valleys  are 
wide,  and  the  mountain  slopes  less  precipitous,  while 
every  available  acre  is  in  cultivation ;  but  much  of  it 
is  very  sterile  and  will  scarcely  return  the  seed  com- 
mitted to  it. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

BAALBEC— ZALEH — BEYROOT. 

HREE  DAYS  from  Damascus  brings  you  to 
Baalbec  by  easy  stages.  There  is  a  consider- 
able country  village  here,  but  the  only  real 
interest  of  the  place  is  in  its  ruins.  These  have 
made  it  famous  throughout  the  world.  There  are 
scarcely  any  architectural  remains  anywhere,  coming 
from  the  old  times,  so  well  preserved  as  these.  But 
they  are  not  so  old  as  many  others — Karnak,  for 
instance — nor  so  extensive  as  those  at  Karnak ;  yet 
they  are  so  massive  as  to  be  the  wonder  of  architec- 
ture in  all  modern  eyes.  They  are  what  survives  of 
two  temples — one  very  large,  the  Temple  of  Jupiter 
— and  one  small  one,  the  Temple  of  the  Sun.  I  say 
small,  but  that  is  only  because  it  is  put  in  compari- 
son with  the  other.  If  it  were  off  somewhere  by 
itself  it  would  be  a  huge  affair. 

The  walls  of  the  smaller  temple  are  standing,  and 
at  their  full  height,  but  the  arched  roof  is  all  gone. 
The  ornamentation  of  the  walls  on  the  inside  was 
very  elaborate  and  very  rich,  consisting  of  mould- 
ings, projections,  and  figures  cut  in  the  stone  in 
great  variety.  At  the  end  opposite  the  entrance 
there  was  a  space  partitioned  off  by  a  series  of 
arches,  used,  I  suppose,  for  religious  solemnities. 
In  after-years,  at  least,  it  was  so  when  the  building 


BAALBEC ZALEH BEYROOT.         469 

was  used  as  a  church,  as  it  was  for  a  time,  in  the  age 
of  Constantine,  and  later.  The  ends  of  the  broken 
arches  still  appear,  and  the  stump  of  one  of  the  sup- 
porting columns  still  stands  ;  but  the  other  is  pros- 
trate. Within  this  space  the  designs  and  carving  are 
different,  and  perhaps  more  abundant. 

The  front  entrance  is  very  large,  but  much  injured 
now,  many  of  the  stones  in  the  arches  having  fallen. 
It  has  been  propped  in  one  place  to  prevent  a  great 
keystone  from  coming  down.  Around  the  entrance, 
above  and  on  both  sides,  there  is  much  and  elegant 
chisel-work  in  the  stone.  Before  it  was  a  portico, 
supported  by  fluted  columns,  with  ornamented  capi- 
tals, only  two  of  which  are  standing  now.  This 
portico  was,  no  doubt,  a  most  magnificent  and  ele- 
gant structure,  but  nothing  remains  of  it  except  the 
two  columns  I  have  already  mentioned.  I  doubt 
not  that  it  presented  a  gable,  and  perhaps  arches,  of 
rich  design  and  delicate  tracery. 

Besides  this  front  portico  there  were  rows  of  col- 
umns along  both  sides  and  the  rear  end,  on  the  out- 
side, standing  about  ten  or  fifteen  feet  from  the  wall. 
These  columns  were  the  full  height  of  the  wall,  from 
the  top  of  which  arched  slabs,  curving  upward, 
covered  the  space  between  the  wall  and  the  columns. 
These  immense  slabs  were  ornamentally  carved  on 
the  under  surface,  and  in  the  center  of  each  is  a 
mythological  figure  of  nearly  life-size.  On  one 
which  has  fallen  is  the  figure  of  Ceres.  On  some, 
perhaps,  are  busts  of  emperors  instead  of  gods,  but 
the  greater  number  are  of  gods  or  goddesses. 

Very  near  this,  and  in  the  same  inclosure,  is  the 
great  Temple  of  Jupiter.     It  is  a  singular  structure, 


47°  BAALBEC ZALEH BEYROOT. 

and  covers  many  acres  of  ground.  The  buildings  in 
front  of  the  principal  temple  were  larger  than  the 
temple  itself.  The  walls  were  very  thick  and  very 
high.  In  some  parts  they  were  much  broken,  in 
others  quite  perfect.  I  can  attempt  no  description. 
At  the  rear  of  this  wonderful  front  structure,  and 
considerably  narrower,  was  an  area  surrounded  only 
by  columns  on  three  sides,  and  the  wall  of  the  front 
building  on  the  other.  The  columns  were  surmount- 
ed by  a  cornice,  but  there  was  neither  wall  nor  roof — ■ 
just  these  rows  of  columns  and  the  cornice  joining 
them  on  the  top. 

All  but  six  of  these  columns  have  fallen,  and  those 
that  still  stand  are  much  injured  on  one  side  by  the 
weather.  Until  1759  there  were  nine  standing,  but 
the  earthquake  of  that  year  prostrated  three  of  them. 

The  columns  of  the  smaller  temple  are  46J  feet 
high,  and  those  of  the  larger  60  feet.  Those  of  the 
smaller  building  stand  around  the  walls,  and  are 
connected  with  them.  The  look  of  the  whole  is 
very  grand.  But  the  six  of  the  other  stand  out  by 
themselves,  having  the  mountains  in  some  directions, 
in  other  directions  the  sky,  for  a  background. 

If  we  were  disappointed  in  the  size  of  the  stones 
in  the  Pyramids,  so  we  were  here — only  that  the 
stones  there  were  smaller,  and  these  are  much  larger 
than  we  expected. 

Take  the  columns,  for  instance.  Most  of  them 
are  in  three  pieces.  At  the  base  they  are  j\  feet  in 
diameter,  and  taper  but  very  little  towards  the  top. 
Think  of  a  stone  23  or  30  feet  long,  and  7 J  across, 
hard  limestone,  or  granite,  separated  from  the  solid 
mass  i.i  the  quarry,  trimmed  perfectly  round,  brought 


BAALBEC ZALEH BEYROOT.         47 1 

to  a  high  polish,  moved  several  miles,  lifted  forty- 
feet  into  the  air,  raised  on  end,  poised  and  set  on  a 
column  of  two  similar  pieces,  already-  raised!  It 
makes  my  head  swim  to  think  of  it. 

Then  some  of  the  single  stones  in  the  outer  wall 
are  thirty,  forty,  fifty,  or  more,  feet  long,  the  other 
two  dimensions  corresponding.  The  question  of 
questions  with  all  modern  mechanicians  is,  how  were 
these  stones  handled?  What  sort  of  machinery  was 
used?  What  adjustment  of  levers,  screws,  wedges 
was  it  by  which  such  stupendous  forces  were  deliv- 
ered and  directed,  so  as  not  only  to  move  and  elevate 
these  immense  blocks,  but  to  lay  them  exactly  in 
their  places  in  the  wall,  or  set  them  on  end  on  the 
top  of  a  column  already  forty  feet  high?  The  neces- 
sary fixtures  for  this  elevation  and  placement  must 
themselves  have  cost  millions  of  money. 

We  entered  the  great  enclosure  on  horseback, 
through  an  arched  vault,  which  must  be  a  hundred 
yards  long.  This  is  now  properly  underground^  but 
I  could  not  determine  whether  it  was  always  so,  or 
whether  the  earth  that  covers  it  is  not  merely  a  mass 
of  ruins.  Before  proceeding  with  our  explorations 
we  took  our  lunch  in  the  peristyle  of  the  Temple  of 
the  Sun,  under  the  decorated  ceiling,  from  which  all 
sorts  of  gods  and  goddesses  looked  down  upon  us. 
When  our  train  came  up  the  tents  of  both  parties 
were  pitched  in  the  Entrance  Court  of  the  great  tem- 
ple, where  we  found  room  for  9  tents,  25  persons, 
and  48  horses,  mules,  and  donkeys,  with  space  for 
as  many  more.  This  court  is  147  yards  long  lrom 
east  to  west,  and  123  yards  wide. 

But  those  who  desire  an  elaborate  description  of 


472  BAALBEC ZALEH BEYROOT. 

these  wonderful  remains  must  seek  it  in  books.  The 
buildings  were  the  work  of  the  Romans.  Two  Latin 
inscriptions  on  the  bases  of  columns  which  stood  in 
front  of  the  great  temple  set  forth  that  it  was  erected 
and  dedicated  by  Antoninus  Pius  and  Julia  Domna. 

In  the  village,  at  a  distance  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile, 
are  the  remains  of  a  very  small  circular  temple,  well 
preserved,  which  is  by  some  considered  a  gem  of  art, 
and  which  has,  at  least,  the  merit  of  being  entirely 
unique  in  its  whole  design. 

Scarcely  less  interesting  than  the  ruins  are  the 
quarries  from  which  the  stone  was  obtained.  Many 
great  blocks,  already  quarried  and  shaped  for  their 
place  in  the  wall,  lie  still  in  the  vast  excavation, 
having  never  been  removed.  Others  were  partially 
prepared  only,  as  if  work  had  been  suddenly 
arrested.  Two  immense  square  columns,  separated 
from  each  other  by  a  space  of  four  inches,  fifteen  or 
twenty  feet  high,  stand  rooted  in  the  living  rock 
below,  having  never  been  separated  from  it.  They 
were  hewed  as  they  stand  from  the  solid  bed  in 
which  they  were  once  contained. 

Bat  the  lord  of  the  quarry  is  a  block  71  feet  long 
by  17  wide,  and  about  the  same  in  thickness.  It  is 
perfectly  dressed  on  three  sides  to  its  full  length,  and 
was  cut  under,  so  that  perhaps  half  the  work  of  de- 
tachir  g  it  was  done.  Some  have  supposed  that  it 
was  abandoned  for  the  reason  that  the  architect 
found  it  so  large  as  to  be  unwieldy.  But  there  is 
abundant  sign,  both  in  the  quarry  and  in  the  outer 
wall  of  the  building,  that  all  work  came  to  a  sudden 
stand-still  before  the  structure  was  finished.  Possi- 
bly the  death  of  an  Emperor,  or  the  outbreak  of  war, 


BAALBEC—  Z.-YLEH — BEYROOT.  473 

or  some  such  event,  brought  it  to  an  end.  After  the 
miracles  of  stone-lifting  which  had  already  been  per- 
formed, it  scarcely  admits  of  a  question  that  this 
might  also  have  been  done.  At  least  they  would 
have  separated  it  from  its  bed  and  made  the  attempt. 

How  much  the  idolatrous  religions  of  the  ancients 
cost  them  !  Is  it  not  true  that  the  devotees  of  false 
religions  bestow  their  money  and  labor  more  freely 
than  the  followers  of  Christ?  Surely  nine-tenths  of 
us  are  not  more  than  half-converted. 

Leaving  Baalbec  we  descended  the  valley  of  the 
Litany,  which  is  well  cultivated,  and  quite  thickly 
populated.  This  valley  divides  the  Lebanon  from 
the  Anti-Lebanon  range,  and  in  the  scope  of  country 
formerly  called  Ccele-Syria.  Some  forty  miles  south 
of  Baalbec  the  river  forsakes  the  valley,  turns  ab- 
ruptly to  the  west,  and  plunges  through  a  gorge  of 
the  Lebanon  on  its  way  to  the  sea. 

After  lunch  at  a  wayside  khan  we  turned  from  the 
main  road  to  visit  the  village  of  Kerak  Nuh,  just  at 
the  edge  of  the  valley  on  the  Lebanon  side.  Here 
is  the  tomb  of  "the  Prophet  Noah."  We  paid  two 
or  three  piasters  to  see  it.  Is  it  worth  seeing  ?  Let 
me  describe  it.  We  entered  a  rickety  door,  which 
was  unlocked  for  us,  ascended  a  flight  of  stone  steps 
to  a  low  stone  roof  fifty  yards  long.  On  this  again 
we  found  a  long,  low,  narrow  structure,  to  which  we 
were  admitted.  In  this  we  found  a  sort  of  rude 
sarcophagus,  made  of  plaster,  I  should  say,  measur- 
ing three  or  four  feet  across  at  the  largest  part,  and 
— now  as  to  the  length  of  it:  my  pencil  hesitates, 
but — it  is  44  yards — 132  feet.     If  any  conscientious 


474  BAALBEC — ZALEH BEYROOT. 

or  cautious  reader  doubts,  he  must  make  a  visit  to 
Kerak  Nuh,  and  see  for  himself. 

A  half-hour  farther  brought  us  to  the  Christian 
village  of  Zalilch.  This  is  a  flourishing  town  of 
15,000  inhabitants,  lying  on  a  slope  of  the  moun- 
tain, on  both  sides  of  the  brook  Ei-Berduni,  a  copi- 
ous mountain  torrent  which  flows  into  the  Litany. 
As  we  approached  this  village  our  eyes  were 
delighted  with  the  fresh,  white  aspect  of  its  houses, 
many  of  which  are  of  good  size,  and  actually  have 
glass  windows.  This  goes  to  establish  the  truth 
of  the  statement  several  times  made  to  us,  that  the 
most  vigorous  and  enterprising  people  of  this  country 
are  the  Christians.  They  are  decidedly  superior  to 
both  Mussulmans  and  Druses. 

The  Christians  of  Syria  are  more  numerous  than  I 
had  supposed,  and  are  divided  into  three  classes — 
the  Maronites,  who  are  Roman  Catholics ;  the 
Catholic  Greeks,  who  acknowledge  the  supremacy 
of  the  Pope  of  Rome;  and  the  Orthodox  Greeks, 
who  adhere  to  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople.  The 
Maronites  are  a  Syrian  sect  which  submitted  to  the 
See  of  Rome  some  centuries  ago,  on  condition  of 
being  permitted  to  use  the  Syriac  as  their  sacred 
language,  and  to  retain  the  privilege  of  marriage  for 
their  priests.  At  a  later  day  a  large  body  of  the 
Greeks  of  Syria,  having  a  quarrel  with  the  Patriarch, 
were  courted  by  Rome,  giving  their  adhesion  to  the 
Pope,  but  reserving  the  use  of  the  Greek  ritual,  and 
the  privilege  of  marriage  for  the  priests,  with  some 
other  special  rights,  conceded  at  the  time,  but  now 
being  gradually  taken  away. 

These    Christians  are    scarcely   less    superstitious 


BAALBEC — ZALEH BEYROOT.         475 

than  tlie  Moslems  ;  yet  the  universal  testimony  is 
that  they  are  a  shade  more  elevated  in  morals  and 
intelligence,  and  that  they  are  greatly  in  advance  in 
industry  and  enterprise,  being  decidedly  the  most 
prosperous  class  in  the  country.  Their  progressive 
character  and  evident  increase,  it  is  supposed,  pro- 
voked in  part  the  massacre  of  i860.  Since  that 
event  the  Turks  have  been  compelled  by  the  Euro- 
pean Powers  to  allow  a  special  government  of  the 
District  of  the  Lebanon,  the  Governor  being  a 
Christian,  and  under  a  species  of  Protectorate  of  the 
Christian  Powers.  Under  this  government  a  new  era 
of  prosperity  has  dawned  upon  the  country,  which  is 
strikingly  in  contrast  both  with  its  past  condition  and 
the  present  condition  of  other  parts  of  it.  The 
taxes,  when  collected,  are  faithfully  returned.  Prop- 
erty is  held  by  a  more  secure  tenure,  and  life  is  pro- 
tected with  some  efficiency. 

Yet  religion  among  them  is  a  mere  form.  A  man 
is  a  Christian,  not  on  the  ground  of  repentance  and 
faith,  but  because  he  has  been  baptized  and  confirm- 
ed. Faith  he  has,  in  a  certain  sense — a  faith  that  is 
yery  intense  and  bigoted — but  of  that  faith  which  is 
a  vital  grasp  of  the  atoning  merits  of  Christ  he  knows 
nothing.  The  Church  exercises  no  moral  discipline, 
a  consequence  of  which  is  that  the  most  profane  and 
profligate  are  in  the  Church,  and  reckoned  Christians 
all  the  same.  It  is  ritualism  gone  to  seed — Roman- 
ism in  full  flower.  Religion  is  in  the  ritual,  not  rest- 
ing on  any  spiritual,  nor  even  moral  basis. 

Never  was  a  reformation  more  needed.  We  were 
glad  to  find  here  in  Zaleh  two  Americans  of  the 
Presbyterian     Board — Messrs.     Dale     and     March. 


4/6  8AALBEC ZALEH BEYROOT. 

They  have  been  at  work  here  less  than  four  years, 
but  with  marked  success.  They  have  organized  a 
Church,  had  a  number  of  instances  of  most  remarkable 
conversions,  established  several  schools,  built  a  house 
of  worship,  and  extended  the  work  abroad  in  many 
neighboring  villages.  They  are  men  of  large  intelli- 
gence and  great  energy,  and  seem  to  be  devoted  to 
their  wrork  with  single-minded  consecration.  They 
have  encountered  strenuous  opposition  from  the  na- 
tive clergy.  The  Jesuits  are  opening  opposition 
schools.  In  fact,  the  presence  of  the  missionaries 
creates  an  opportunity  for  the  Jesuits,  who  are  dis- 
trusted and  hated  by  the  native  priests,  especially  as 
they  are  not  under  the  control  of  the  resident 
Bishops.  But  on  the  plea  that  their  work  is  neces- 
sary to  counteract  the  influence  of  the  missionaries, 
they  are  allowed  to  come  in  with  their  convents  and 
schools.  Whereupon  the  missionaries  rejoice;  for 
the  people  are  learning  to  read,  and  will  be  able  to 
read  the  Bible  as  it  becomes  more  and  more  dissem- 
inated. The  Jesuits  are  driven  to  the  extremity  of 
even  making  a  translation  of  the  Bible  for  their  peo- 
ple into  the  vernacular  language. 

At  Zahleh  we  met  Mr.  Dale,  who  accompanied  us 
to  our  camp.  As  we  passed  over  the  spur  of  the 
mountain  he  pointed  out  to  us,  across  the  valley  of 
the  Litany,  the  ruins  of  Chalcis,  which  we  had  not 
time  to  visit.  On  the  way  we  met  Mr.  March,  com- 
ing from  a  visit  to  some  of  the  neighboring  villages, 
who  also  turned  back  and  accompanied  us.  At 
Shtora  we  came  again  into  the  diligence-road.  Half 
an  hour  farther  on  was  our  camp,  where  our  mission- 
ary friends   dined  with   us,  and   spent  the   evening. 


BAALBEC ZALEH BEYROOT.  477 

We  invited  Dr.  Schaff,  and  the  three  or  four  minis- 
ters who  were  of  his  party,  to  meet  them.  They 
were  full  of  information,  which  they  gave  us  freely, 
varying  thus  the  monotony  of  camp-life  for  us  in  a 
most  delightful  way.  The  occasion  was  as  pleasant 
to  them  as  to  us,  for  in  their  inland  station  they 
rarely  see  friends  from  America.  They  are  not  with- 
out some  solicitude  about  the  war  which,  as  we  have 
just  learned,  is  now  imminent,  though  they  have  no 
fears  as  to  their  own  safety.  At  ten  o'clock  we  sang, 
"All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name!"  Dr.  Schaff 
led  us  in  prayer,  and  our  friends  returned  to  Zahleh 
to  devote  their  lives  to  the  work  of  God  in  Syria. 
Our  hearts  went  with  them,  and  we  did  most  earn- 
estly commit  them  to  the  Care  of  Him  whom  they 
serve. 

The  next  morning  we  crossed  the  great  Lebanon 
range  by  the  diligence-road,  the  only  improved  road 
in  all  Syria.  It  is  owned  by  a  French  company,  and 
there  is  scarcely  a  better  road  in  the  world.  The 
diligence  runs  each  way  between  Damascus  and 
Beyroot  twice  a  day,  making  the  distance,  seventy 
miles,  in  fourteen  hours.  The  road  is  Macadamized, 
being  kept  smooth  and  hard  from  one  end  to  the 
other. 

From  the  summit  of  the  range  Beyroot  and  the 
Mediterranean  were  descried,  but  we  had  a  descent 
of  5,000  feet  to  make.  Three  or  four  miles  from 
town  we  took  our  lunch.  A  Nubian  had  come  out 
in  a  hack,  in  hopes  of  getting  a  job.  He  offered  to 
take  us  in  cheap,  but  we  could  not  think  of  ending 
our  tour  of*  Palestine  and  Syria  in  so  tame  a  fashion. 
So  we  mounted  our  faithful  steeds  again,  and  made 


478  BAALBEC ZALEH BEYROOT. 

our  last  ride  at  a  brisk  pace,  bringing  up  at  the  New 
Oriental  Hotel,  on  the  very  shore  of  the  sea,  with 
the  waves  dashing  against  the  rocks  immediately 
beneath  our  window. 

For  my  part  I  enjoyed  the  saddle,  and  was  not  at 
all  over-fatigued.  It  was  going  back  to  old  habits, 
and  proved  to  me  that  I  was  not  yet  disqualified  for 
circuit  work.  I  had  become  quite  attached  to  my 
little  bay  horse.  He  was  the  best  walker  I  met  with 
anywhere  on  the  road.  He  was  "  tough  as  a  pine- 
knot,"  though  it  must  be  confessed  that  he  was  both 
lazy  and  hard-headed;  albeit  a  good  stout  hickory 
always  brought  him  to  a  sense  of  his  duty.  He  had 
but  to  know  that  it  was  there  and  would  be  used — - 
the  actual  use  of  it  being  seldom  necessary.  Under 
such  circumstances  he  was  a  most  exemplary 
quadruped,  and  when  I  remember  what  roads  he 
carried  me  over  without  ever  making  a  serious  mis- 
step, I  do  most  freely  forgive  him  everything  I  con- 
sidered wrong  at  the  time,  and  part  from  him  with  a 
feeling  of  gratitude  and  regret. 

Beyroot  is  a  city  of  80,000  inhabitants,  having 
grown  to  this  importance  from  a  population  of 
20,000,  in  less  than  thirty  years.  What  the  cause  of 
this  surprising  and  sudden  start  into  prosperity  is,  I 
scarcely  know.  Several  causes  have  been  at  work. 
The  Christian  Government  of  the  Lebanon  has 
brought  a  large  district  of  country  immediately 
tributary  to  it  into  new  life.  The  French  road  to 
Damascus  has  made  traffic  with  the  interior  practi- 
cable and  easy.  It  is  also  the  head-quarters  of 
Protestant  Missions  in  Syria.  One  English  com- 
pany has  brought  the  water  of  Dog  river  to  the  city, 


BAALBEC ZALEH BEYROOT.         479 

conveying  it  to  every  part,  while  another  has  lighted 
it  with  gas. 

Be  it  noted  that  all  this  stir  in  the  immemorial 
stagnation  of  the  place  is  due  to  foreigners.  This 
despot-ridden  country  has  not  life  enough  to  make  a 
road,  or  construct  water  or  gas-works,  nor,  indeed, 
to  do  anything  else.  It  would  be  difficult  to  invent 
a  worse  government  than  this.  It  seems  to  have  no 
idea  of  government,  except  as  an  engine  for  collect- 
ing taxes ;  nor  has  it  the  sagacity  to  collect  the  tax 
on  principles  that  will  enable  the  people  to  pay  more 
another  year.  To  squeeze  out  of  them  the  blood 
that  happens  to  be  in  their  veins  now,  is  the  ultimate 
wisdom  of  the  Turk. 

The  American  Board  of  C.  F.  M.  established 
Missions  here  more  than  fifty  years  ago.  The  work 
is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Presbyterian  Board,  and  a 
great  work  it  is.  The  actual  communicants  do  not 
number  over  one  thousand,  but  the  American  reader 
will  get  no  idea  from  that  fact  of  the  extent  and 
importance  of  the  results  already  secured.  The 
Bible  has  been  translated  into  the  vernacular,  schools 
have  been  opened  in  many  towns  and  villages,  a 
large  printing  establishment  is  in  operation,  and  a 
flourishing  college,  with  a  medical  department,  is 
well  launched. 

In  this  Mission  there  are :  Central  stations,  5  ; 
out-stations,  44;  ordained  missionaries,  11  ;  female 
missionaries  (unmarried),  6 ;  native  pastors,  3 ;  native 
licensed  preachers,  12;  school-teachers,  60;  other 
helpers,  14;  preaching-places,  38;  girls  in  boarding- 
schools,  125;  pupils  in  day-schools,  2,107.  The 
number  of  volumes  printed   at    the    Mission    Press, 


480  BAALBEC ZALEH BEYROOT. 

30,000;     tracts,    15,000;    pages    printed    during    the 
year,  14,317,200;  pages  of  Bibles,  8,410,000. 

Besides  the  translation  of  the  Bible,  a  number  of 
valuable  text-books,  scientific  and  historical,  have 
been  prepared  for  schools,  in  Arabic — a  great  work; 
for  many  of  them  will  be  used  in  native  schools. 

In  addition  to  these  Missions,  the  United  and  Re- 
formed Presbyterian  Churches  have  occupied  several 
points,  and  established  a  good  many  schools. 

I  ought  to  have  said  that  the  statistics  given 
above  are  four  years  old.  The  statistics  of  this  date 
would  show  a  large  increase  in  several  items,  and 
steady  advance  in  all,  for  the  work  was  never  more 
prosperous  than  now. 

There  are,  then,  "  The  British  Syrian  Schools  and 
Bible  Mission,"  carried  on  by  Church  of  England 
people,  with  schools  at  Beyroot,  Damascus,  Tyre, 
and  other  places,  and  2,652  pupils  enrolled.  The 
Free  Church  of  Scotland,  also,  has  quite  a  large 
number  of  schools.  All  taken  tog-ether  there  is  a 
volume  of  Protestant  and  Evangelical  agencies  and 
influence  active  here,  that  has  already  quickened  the 
country  to  a  preceptible  degree,  and  promises  to 
produce  a  moral,  intellectual,  and  religious  revolu- 
tion. 

The  College,  which  I  have  already  mentioned, 
does  not  belong  to  the  Mission  proper,  nor  to  any 
Church  ;  yet  it  is  founded  on  strictly  Evangelical 
principles  ;  the  Bible  is  a  text-book,  and  the  faith  of 
the  gospel  is  earnestly  inculcated  by  all  proper 
means.  It  has  been  built  and  partially  endowed  by 
Christian  men  in  England  and  America,  the  property 
being   held    by   trustees    in   America,    incorporated 


BAALBEC ZALEH BEYROOT.         48  I 

under  the  general  law  of  the  State  of  New  York,  in 
1863.  The  corporators  were,  Wm.  A.  Booth,  Wrm 
E.  Dodge,  David  Hoadley,  S.  B.  Chittenden,  of  New 
York,  and  Abner  Kingman  and  Joseph  S.  Ropes,  of 
Boston.  A  special  act  of  the  Legislature,  in  1864, 
invested  them  with  important  special  privileges.  The 
immediate  management  of  the  Institution  is  in  the 
hands  of  a  local  Board  of  Trustees,  most  of  whom 
reside  at  Beyroot.  Already  it  has  done  a  great  work,, 
and  stands  head  and  shoulders  above  any  educa- 
tional institution  in  Syria.  For  the  extent  of  its; 
curriculum  and  the  thoroughness  of  its  instructions: 
in  the  country  it  has  no  rival.  The  graduates  of  the 
Medical  Department  already  number  twenty,  who 
are  the  only  thoroughly  educated  native  physicians 
in  the  country. 

We  received  very  cordial  attentions  from  Mr. 
Edgar,  the  American  Consul  at  Beyroot.  He  is  the 
son  of  Dr.  Edgar,  one  of  the  former  Presbyterian 
pastors  of  Nashville,  a  man  largely  known  in  the 
South. 

Our  visit  to  Syria  has  been  very  suggestive. 
Here,  where  there  was  a  high  state  of  civilization, 
while  yet  the  greater  part  of  Europe  was  still  in  a 
savage  condition,  society  is  now  in  a  semi-barbarous 
state.  How  is  this  ?  Why  is  it  ?  Is  Moslemism 
responsible  for -it?  Did  these  countries,  in  rejecting 
Christ,  recoil  into  stagnation  and  render  progress  an 
impossible  thing  ?  A  mere  glance  at  the  country  is 
sufficient  to  show  that  it  is  not  due  to  physical  con- 
ditions, for  there  is  everything  here  to  constitute  the 
basis  of  the  highest  prosperity.  Enterprise,  intelli- 
gence, and  moral  power,  are  all  that  is  needed  to 

16 


482  BAALBEC ZALEH BEYROOT. 

make  this  what  it  once  was,  one  of  the  most  mag- 
nificent countries  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  The 
Turk  and  the  False  Prophet  have  shed  a  blight 
upon  it. 

In  proof,  see  the  prosperity  already  brought  about, 
in  less  than  twenty  years,  under  the  Christian  Gov- 
ernment of  Mount  Lebanon. 

On  the  last  day  of  our  stay  in  Beyroot,  our  Consul 
invited  us  to  ride  with  him  to  the  Prussian  Cemetery. 
There  we  saw  a  granite  shaft  of  good  size.  On  one 
side  we  read,  "  Rev.  Calvin  Kingsley,  D.  D.,  Bishop 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Born  in  the 
State  of  New  Yt>rk,  United  States  of  America,  Sept. 
8,  1 81 2.  Died  in  Syria,  April  6,  1870,  while  making 
for  his  Church  the  first  Episcopal  tour  of  the  globe." 
On  the  opposite  face  are  these  words :  "  May  his 
tomb  unite  more  closely  Asia  and  America."  The 
Consul  gives  attention  to  the  monument,  and  it  is  in 
good  condition.  The  grounds  around  it  are  neat, 
and  very  well  kept. 

In  the  rear  of  the  Mission  Press  is  a  small  ceme- 
tery in  which  I  read  the  following  epitaph  on  a  small 
and  modest  slab,  which  serves  as  a  horizontal  cover- 
ing of  a  grave:  "Rev.  Pliny  Fisk.  Died  Oct.  23, 
1825,  JE.  33  yrs."  That  was  all.  It  is  enough.  If 
I  am  not  mistaken,  Pliny  Fisk  was  the  first  man  sent 
by  the  American  Board  to  Syria,  the  forerunner  of 
all  that  followed,  and  all  that  is  to  follow. 

Protestant  Missions  are  not  a  failure,  but  a  great 
success.  We  have  had  large  observation  of  them 
now,  from  Yokohama  to  Beyroot.  The  men  engaged 
in  the  work  are  generally  of  a  high  order  of  intelli- 
gence and  personal  force.     They  are  the  represen- 


BAALBEC ZALEH — BEYROOT.         483 

tatives  of  the  Son  of  God  among  the  heathen — 
and  among  the  half-heathen  found  in  degenerate 
Churches.  They  are  charged  with  his  word,  which 
is  quick  and  powerful,  and  is  proving  itself  to  be  so 
by  incipient  victories  already  achieved.  This  divine 
word  is  the  sword  having  two  edges  that  proceeds 
out  of  his  mouth,  and  pierces  to  the  dividing  asunder 
of  the  joints  and  marrow,  of  the  soul  and  spirit, 
being  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the 
heart.  The  nineteenth  century  is  a  new  point  of 
departure  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  It  opens 
the  missionary  epoch,  and  is  itself  the  outgrowth  of 
the  great  revivals  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Those 
revivals  are  again  the  fruit  of  Reformation,  which 
expended  itself  in  controversy  for  two  hundred 
years,  until  its  ideas  became  crystallized  and  its 
forms  defined  and  animated  with  their  proper  spirit. 
The  forces  that  are  potential  in  the  Eternal  World 
are  coming  into  full  expression,  and  he  is  going  forth 
conquering  the  nations.  Surely  he  will  never  stay 
his  hand  until  the  last  enemy  is  prostrate  under  his 
feet. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

ON  BOARD  THE  STEAMER  ESPERO. 

ON  TUESDAY,  May  I,  at  6  o'clock,  p.  m.,  we 
embarked  on  the  steamer  Espero,  of  the  Aus- 
trian Lloyd  line,  for  Constantinople,  taking 
leave  of  Beyroot  after  a  very  pleasant  sojourn  of 
three  days.  Be  it  known  by  all  travelers  that  the 
Austrian  Lloyd  steamers  do  no  extra  feeding.  Their 
dinner-hour  is  five,  and  when  they  sail  at  six,  as  they 
generally  do,  if  a  passenger  gets  his  dinner  he  pays 
for  it  extra.  Moreover,  they  take  great  pains  to  land 
you  at  the  port  of  destination  just  before  a  meal.  In 
the  run  of  the  year  a  good  deal  of  bread  and  meat  is 
saved  by  this  close  sort  of  economy,  and  I  must  say 
this  Austrian  bread  is  worth  saving.  It  is  the  sweet- 
est bread  I  have  ever  eaten. 

Our  captain  is  a  burly  Italian,  a  funny,  genial  fel- 
low, who  plays  a  practical  joke  on  some  one  every 
now  and  then.  He  takes  more  pains  to  get  off  a 
poor  trick  than  any  man  I  ever  saw.  For  instance, 
he  fastened  the  plate  of  Cook's  dragoman  to  the 
table-cloth  with  sealing  wax,  just  before  dinner  one 
day,  burning  a  hole  in  the  table-cloth  in  doing  it. 
How  he  did  laugh  when  the  man's  plate  was  to  be 
changed  and  the  table-cloth  was  lifted  with  it.  The 
man  who  can  get  so  much  laughter  out  of  a  joke  no 
better  than  that  is  to  be  envied. 


ON  BOARD  THE  STEAMER  ESPERO.  485 

We  have  several  Turkish  officers  on  board,  bound 
for  Constantinople.  The  war  has  begun ;  the  whole 
weight  of  Russia  is  coming  upon  the  Empire,  and 
Turkey  "expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty."  Some 
of  the  officers  of  the  lower  ranks  amuse  me.  Their 
uniform  is  blue,  and  the  skirt  of  the  coat  is  sewed  to 
the  body  in  plaits  nearly  an  inch  wide.  H.  says 
they  remind  him  of  a  negro  in  his  master's  cast-off 
coat.  Those  we  have  seen  are  certainly  as  ungainly 
a  looking  set  as  can  be  well  imagined.  Now  and 
then  one  makes  a  show  of  dressing  up,  but  there  is 
always  sure  to  be  something  outre.  I  have  seen 
some  quite  elegantly  dressed,  except  that  their  feet 
were  in  slippers  which  were  down  at  the  heel,  with 
no  stockings  on. 

But  at  Smyrna  some  officers  of  high  rank  got 
aboard.  They  were  faultlessly  dressed  in  European 
style,  and  as  fine-looking  men  as  you  will  see  any- 
where. One,  especially,  is  a  man  of  very  imposing 
presence,  who  would  be  taken  for  a  man  of  mark  in 
any  country.  They  are  very  courteous  and  self-pos- 
sessed. One  of  them  sits  next  to  me  at  meals.  On 
my  asking  him  if  he  spoke  English,  he  shook  his 
head  and  said,  "  No."  But  we  manage  by  a  sort  of 
pantomime  to  keep  up  an  exchange  of  amenities  at 
the  table,  in  which  he  will  never  allow  me  to  get 
ahead  of  him.  I  have  taken  a  decided  liking  to  him, 
which,  I  imagine,  he  reciprocates.  Two  things  I 
hope  for  in  connection  with  this  Russo-Turkish  war 
— one  is  that  the  Turks  may  get  a  good  drubbing, 
for  they  need  it ;  the  other,  that  this  particular  Turk 
may  not  get  a  hole  shot  through  him. 

Most    of     our    passengers    are    Englishmen    and 


486        ON  BOARD  THE  STEAMER  ESPERO. 

women.  Two  of  them  are  clergymen  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church.  They  and  their  party  are  the  j oiliest 
set  on  board.  They  are  the  only  ones  who  act  like 
snobs.  One  of  the  reverend  clergymen,  especially, 
puts  on  airs,  and  affects  the  elegant  gentleman  in 
many  respects,  while  at  the  same  time  he  pays 
assiduous  attention  to  the  ladies,  and  often  sings 
snatches  of  humorous  songs  with  grimace  and 
gesture  that — well,  I  will  not  say  it.  This  gentle- 
man was  invited  to  read  prayers  on  Sunday,  but  he 
had  the  grace  to  get  his  older  and  better-behaved 
friends  to  officiate.  After  prayers  there  would  have 
been  a  sermon,  but  the  ship  was  just  landing  at 
Mitylene,  and  the  confusion  was  so  great  as  to  ren- 
der it  impracticable. 

Nearly  all  on  board  are  people  of  good  sense  and 
modest  behavior — that  is,  I  mean  of  the  first-class 
passengers — and  some  of  them  are  men  of  very  large 
information.  The  English,  so  far  as  our  observation 
extends,  travel  more  than  any  other  people,  and,  with 
very  few  exceptions,  they  are  sensible  travelers. 
They  dress  for  it  in  a  plain,  substantial  way,  and  do 
not  overload  themselves  with  luggage.  They  are 
ready  to  take  things  as  they  come,  rarely  making 
any  ado  if  they  encounter  some  mishap  or  have  some 
discomfort  to  undergo.  Only  now  and  then  one  is  a 
little  snobbish.  Perhaps  they  are  somewhat  too 
much  given  to  ordering  servants  about  in  hotels  and 
on  ships,  and  once  in  a  while  one  is  noisy  and 
blustering  in  his  way  of  doing  it.  One  of  our  snobs, 
going  ashore  in  a  boat  at  Mitylene,  quarreled  with 
the  boatman  on  his  return,  and  fell  foul  of  him  with 


ON  BOARD  THE  STEAMER  ESPERO.        48/ 

his  fists.  I  am  glad  to  say  he  was  not  one  of  the 
clergymen. 

The  English  ladies  know  exactly  how  to  travel, 
dispensing  with  all  finery  and  nonsense,  dressing  in 
stout  goods  of  somber  colors,  and  taking  things  as 
they  come.  Two  unmarried  ladies,  not  over-young; 
out  without  any  male  friend,  taking  care  of  them- 
selves under  Cook's  auspices,  were  in  Dr.  Schaffs 
party  through  Palestine.  I  admired  them,  not  for 
their  personal  beauty — for  they  had  none  of  that — 
but  for  their  good  sense,  which  they  were  liberally 
endowed  with,  for  their  unaffected  good  manners, 
their  remarkable  intelligence,  self-possession,  and 
first-rate  horsewomanship.  They  were  provided  with 
gentle,  but  active,  and  sprightly  horses,  and  were  as 
fearless  riders  as  any  in  the  company,  complaining 
less  of  fatigue  then  the  men.  They  sometimes  un- 
consciously led  the  cavalcade  at  so  rapid  a  rate  that 
the  venerable  Dr.  Schaff  was  compelled  to  break 
into  an  undignified  canter  to  keep  from  getting  lost. 
He  protested  that  it  had  never  been  in  his  expecta- 
tions to  gallop  through  Palestine,  but  he  was  obliged 
to  do  it  to  keep  in  sight  of  the  rest.  Once  the  spell 
was  broken,  and  he  had  begun  to  gallop,  I  half  sus- 
pected him  of  enjoying  it.  Certainly  he  was  not 
always  behind.  I  am  not  sure  but  that  with  practice 
he  would  excel  as  much  in  horsemanship  as  in 
Hebrew.  I  have  rarely  met  with  a  more  genial, 
enjoyable  man. 

Both  companies  of  us  were  photographed  together 
amid  the  ruins  of  Baalbec.  Two  negatives  were 
made,  in  one  of  which  a  heavy  shadow  fell  from  rne 
upon    the    Doctor.     He  consoled    himself  that  the 


488        ON  BOARD  THE  STEAMER  ESPERO. 

shadow  was  not  upon  his  head,  and  I  acknowledged 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  throw  that  in  the 
shade.     It  always  shines  out  clear. 

But  I  must  get  back  on  board  the  good  ship 
Espero.  We  had  on  board  the  Rev.  Dr.  Post,  of  the 
Mission  at  Beyroot.  He  is,  by  the  necessities  of  his 
position,  in  a  large  practice  as  a  physician  and  sur- 
geon at  Beyroot.  His  reputation  as  a  surgeon 
is  all  over  Syria.  Patients  come  to  him  for  capi- 
tal operations  from  great  distances.  He  is  also 
Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery  in  the  Medical 
Department  of  the  College,  and  of  Botany  in  the 
Scientific  Department — work  enough  for  one  small 
man ;  but,  like  many  intellectual  men  of  small 
stature,  he  has  the  nervous  and  muscular  fiber  that 
can  bear  almost  any  strain.  He  can  turn  off  work 
and  stand  it  like  Dr.  Summers.  He  is  going  to  Con- 
stantinople with  the  scientific  text-books  which  have 
been  prepared  in  Arabic  by  the  missionaries,  to  show 
the  Government  that  the  hard  work  of  the  Mission 
looks  to  the  substantial  and  permanent  advancement 
of  the  Turkish  Empire,  and  to  request  certain  fran- 
chises for  the  College.  But  I  suspect  the  Govern- 
ment has  its  hands  too  full  of  the  war  to  give  him 
much  attention.  Little  cares  it,  at  best,  about  the 
education  of  the  people,  though  it  does  sometimes 
grant  favors  to  distinguished  men  when  they  apply. 
At  any  rate,  under  whatever  auspices  of  Govern- 
ment, and  in  spite  of  all  wars,  these  great  labors  and 
educational  enterprises,  carried  on  in  the  name  of 
the  Son  of  God,  will  go  forward  to  the  happiest 
issue. 

In  addition  to  the  first-class  passengers,  we  have  a 


ON  BOARD  THE  STEAMER  ESPERO.        489 

motley  crowd  below,  in  all  styles  of  dress,  European 
and  Oriental,  of  all  colors,  from  the  fair  Greek  to  the 
jet-black  Nubian,  men  and  women,  distributed  about 
in  the  most  picturesque  way;  each  individual  or 
group  provided  with  its  own  mattress  and  quilts, 
which  serve  them  to  squat  on  by  day  and  sleep  on  at 
night.  The  gabble  they  keep  up  is  incessant.  Some 
of  them  are  remarkably  fine-looking,  and  some  as 
squalid  as  dirt  and  rags  can  make  them.  There  is 
not  a  single  native  traveling  first-class,  except  the 
three  distinguished  officers  who  came  on  at  Smyrna. 

A  devout  Mussulman  is  often  seen  in  his  devotions. 
He  takes  no  pains  to  get  out  of  sight.  The  "  corner 
•of  the  street"  is  as  good  a  place  as  he  wants  for 
prayer.  Turning  his  face  toward  Mecca,  he  bows 
repeatedly,  touching  the  ground  with  his  head,  and 
runs  rapidly  over  his  set  form  of  words.  The  floors 
of  mosques  and  chapels  for  prayer  are  always  cov- 
ered with  mats,  and  the  man  who  performs  his  devo- 
tions out  of  doors,  so  far  as  I  have  observed,  always 
spreads  down  his  blanket  or  cloak,  to  stand  and 
kneel  and  prostrate  himself  upon.  There  is  always 
a  decent  aspect  of  reverence.  I  think  I  have  never 
witnessed  an  instance  of  indecent  flippancy. 

Our  first  landing-place  was  at  Larnaka,  in  the 
Island  of  Cyprus.  After  Paul  and  Barnabas  had 
"been  solemnly  and  formally  set  apart  to  the  work  of 
Missions,  at  Antioch,  they  came  first  to  Cyprus.  On 
this  island  the  first  missionary  trophies  were  won, 
though  not  on  this  part  of  it.  But  we  were  in  the 
neighborhood  of  those  great  events.  Just  beyond 
the  mountains,  to  the  west  of  us,  was  Paphos,  where 
the    Deputy,    Sergius    Paulus,    was    converted,  and 


49°  ON  BOARD  THE  STEAMER  ESPERO. 

where  the  sorcerer,  Elymas,  was  struck   blind.     Of 
what  a  career  was  that  the  beginning  ! 

We  landed  and  walked  through  the  town,  visiting 
the  bazaar,  an  old  church  and  convent,  and,  best  of 
all,  a  Greek  school.  In  the  church  I  suggested  to  ■ 
Dr.  .Schaff  to  go  up  into  the  two-story  pulpit,  and 
give  us  a  sermon,  which  he  did,  but  in  an  unknown 
tongue.  However,  it  had  the  merit  of  being  short, 
consisting  of  two  passages  of  Scripture  in  Greek, 
followed  by  the  apostolic  benediction.  The  school 
was  a  large  one.  For  our  entertainment  the  boys — 
for  there  were  no  girls — sang  one  or  two  pieces,  and 
one  of  them  recited  the  Lord's-prayer  and  the  Credo, 
but  in  the  most  rapid  and  irreverent  manner. 

We  visited  Mr.  Cesnola,  the  brother  of  the  former 
United  States  Consul,  who  was  so  successful  in  col- 
lecting antiquities  here.  Besides  the  two  collections 
that  have  been  sent  to  America,  there  is  a  fine  one 
still  here,  which  we  saw.  Mr.  Cesnola  received  us 
with  great  courtesy,  and  presented  each  one  of  us 
with  a  specimen. 

From  Cyprus  we  steered  direct  for  Rhodes,  so 
long  the  head-quarters  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John. 
Here  wre  saw  a  specimen  of  the  harbors  of  ancient 
times.  Heavy  stone  walls,  built  out  into  the  water, 
affording  ample  room  for  the  ships  of  the  old-time 
mariners,  and  sheltering  them  completely  from 
storms  and  waves,  are  still  in  perfect  preservation. 
Bat  they  have  out-lived  their  day.  Great  steamers 
cannot  enter.  I  was  impressed,  however,  when  I 
went  in,  in  a  little  row-boat,  with  the  perfeet  security 
of  the  place.  There  was  a  brisk  breeze,  and  the 
waves  were  running  somewhat,  outside;  but  within 


ON  BOARD  THE  STEAMER  ESPERO.        49 1 

the  space  protected  by  these  walls  the  surface  was 
perfectly  smooth.  The  masonry  must  be  of  the 
most  remarkable  solidity;  for,  at  the  very  least, 
these  walls,  so  perfect,  have  stood  against  the  waves 
from  the  days  of  the  Crusades. 

We  visited  such  of  the  castles,  barracks,  hospitals, 
and  churches  of  the  Knights  as  are  still  standing. 
There  are  two  houses  pointed  out  as  residences  of 
the  Commanders.  The  buildings  are  all  of  stone, 
very  solid,  but  not  of  the  magnificent  proportions 
nor  high  finish  I  expected  to  see.  They  are  in  rather 
a  rude  style.  Coats-of-arms  appear  here  and  there, 
in  relief,  with  an  occasional  figure  of  Christ,  or  the 
Virgin,  or  a  saint;  but  the  carving  is  not  abundant. 
Yet  one  cannot  but  honor  the  history  of  those 
doughty  knights,  whose  chivalry  was  devoted,  how- 
ever superstitiously,  yet,  according  to  the  light  they 
had,  to  the  honor  of  Christ  and  the  glory  of  his 
kingdom.  They  were  high-souled  men,  who  held 
for  ages  this  stronghold  of  Faith,  in  the  Levant,  by 
force  and  arms,  against  the  power  of  the  infidel. 
But  they  are  gone  now — gone  forever ;  for  the  Chris- 
tian civilization  has  realized  a  spirit  and  taken  on 
forms  that  render  such  an  arm  of  support  and 
defense  impossible.  Her  battles  now  are  on  a  dif- 
ferent arena,  and  she  has  come  to  know  the  weapons 
of  her  warfare  better.  They  are  not  carnal,  but 
mighty  through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of  strong- 
holds. The  Church  has  become  more  skillful  of 
fence  with  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  word 
of  God.  With  this  she  turns  to  flight  the  armies  of 
the  aliens,  and  overthrows  the  mighty.  If,  now  and 
then,  the  Russian   makes   the   defense  of  Christians 


492        ON  BOARD  THE  STEAMER  ESPERO. 

the  pretext  of  a  war,  all  the  world  knows  that  it  is 
but  a  pretext — that  political  considerations,  at  bot- 
tom, determine  her  course  at  all  times. 

In  the  Grecian  Archipelago  we  have  islands  in 
sight  all  the  time,  and,  generally,  on  our  right,  the 
mainland.  Cnidos,  Kos  (Coos),  Mitylene,  Troas, 
remind  us  of  that  journey  of  the  great  apostle,  when 
he  "must  keep  this  feast  at  Jerusalem."  On  Thurs- 
day evening  the  sun  went  down  directly  over  Pat- 
mos,  which  lay  just  in  sight  upon  the  horizon.  Pat- 
mos !  It  looks  like  any  other  island  in  the  distance, 
most  truly,  for  its  glory  is  not  of  its  rocks  or  hills. 
But  of  what  a  drama  was  it  the  theater!  With  what 
scenic  splendors,  with  what  display  of  celestial  gran- 
deurs, with  what  coming  and  going  of  mighty  angels, 
did  God  open  the  unseen  world,  and  disclose  the 
future  there !  The  book  sealed  with  seven  seals  was 
opened  by  the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah.  Harps 
and  trumpets,  thunders  and  voices,  shook  the  atmos- 
phere, and  lightnings  striped  the  sky.  But  the 
drapery  of  the  vision  all  passed  away,  and  Patmos 
became  only  as  another  island. 

We  landed  at  Smyrna.  This  was  the  seat  of  one 
of  the  Seven  Churches.  There  was  no  fault  found 
with  this  Church.  "Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and 
I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life."  This  was  the  mes- 
sage of  her  Lord  to  her,  from  among"  the  sublimities 
of  Patmos.  This,  also,  was  the  warning,  "  Fear  none 
of  those  things  which  thou  shalt  suffer,"  for  persecu- 
tions were  in  the  near  future.  "  Some  of  you  shall  be 
cast  into  prison,  and  ye  shall  suffer  tribulation  ten 
days."  The  faithful  Polycarp  did  indeed  suffer  lure 
afterward,  bearing  a  glorious  testimony  to  the  last, 


ON  BOARD  THE  STEAMER    ESPERO.  493 

and  loving  not  his  life  unto  the  death.  They  have 
made  a  poor  modern  tomb,  under  a  cypress-tree, 
which  they  point  out  to  travelers  as  Polycarp's  tomb. 
It  is  on  an  elevation  back  of  the  city.  There  is  an  old 
castle,  built,  probably,  in  mediaeval  times,  of  stone 
and  fragments  of  old  marble  structures,  on  the  spot, 
they  say,  where  the  martyr  died. 

Smyrna  is  now  the  second  city  of  the  Turkish 
Empire,  having  a  population  of  200,000.  More  than 
half  of  them  are  Greek  Christians.  There  is  a  large 
Jews'  quarter.  Passing  through  it  we  saw  many 
good-looking  people,  and  many  signs  of  prosperity. 
Two  or  three  fine  groves  of  cypress  and  several 
large  gardens  add  greatly  to  the  beauty  of  the  place. 
The  shops  in  the  Franks'  quarter  look  for  all  the 
world  like  small  retail  stores  in  America.  The 
native  bazaar  is  like  all  other  bazaars  in  Oriental 
cities.  Viewed  from  the  castle,  or  from  the  sea,  the 
city  is  one  of  the  prettiest  we  have  seen.  One  thing 
impresses  me — wherever  we  have  seen  any  decided 
marks  of  prosperity  wre  have  found  a  predominant 
Christian  population.     So  it  is  here  in  Smyrna. 

It  was  in  our  plans  to  run  down  to  Ephesus  by 
rail;  but  our  steamer  was  a  day  late,  having  been 
delayed  by  foul  weather  off  Jaffa,  and  the  captain 
would  not  give  us  time  for  it.  But,  as  it  turned  out, 
we  did  remain  long  enough  to  have  made  the  trip. 
This  was  a  great  disappointment  to  us,  for  we  had  a 
great  desire  to  see  that  city  where  the  books  of  the 
magicians  wrere  burned.  Interesting  ruins  are  still 
to  be  seen.  It  seemed  a  pity  to  be  so  near,  and  yet 
not  able  to  meet  our  expectations. 

This  railroad  was  constructed  and  is  owned  by  an 


494        ON  BOARD  THE  STEAMER  ESPERO. 

English  company.  Foreign  enterprise  again.  Poor 
Turkey !  She  does  nothing  for  herself;  she  has  not 
sufficient  life,  and  does  not  know  how. 

At  Mitylene  we  discharged  a  good  deal  of  cargo — 
amongst  other  things  some  barrels  of  petroleum — ■ 
"  Refined — Baltimore." 

Monday  morning  we  had  the  "  plains  of  Troy  "  on 
our  right.  It  is  a  beautiful  and  fruitful  region.  Of 
course,  we  thought  of  Priam,  and  Hector,  and  the 
wooden  horse,  and  Helen ;  but  much  more  did  we 
think  of  another  and  later  event.  It  was  at  Troy 
(Troas)  that  St.  Paul,  having  reached  the  western 
extremity  of  the  continent  of  Asia,  had  the  vision  of 
the  man  from  Macedonia  calling  to  him,  "  Come 
over  and  help  us."  But  this  Troas,  though  in  the 
same  neighborhood,  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  the 
Homeric  city.  That  call  was  the  voice  of  God.  In 
that  little  ship  that  sailed  by  a  straight  course  from 
Troas  to  Samothracia,  and  from  thence  to  Neapolis, 
were  the  fortunes  of  Europe  and  the  ages.  The 
gospel  of  Christ  contained  the  seed  of  the  civilization 
of  the  Germanic  peoples,  and  on  that  voyage  this 
one  man  carried  it  into  Europe.  This  was  its  fourth 
great  point  of  departure.  Jerusalem,  Joppa,  Antioch, 
Troas.  From  each  of  these  successively  the  word 
of  God  started  out  on  a  new  campaign,  and  to  new 
conquests. 

Some  events  stand  by  themselves  ;  others  are  so 
related  to  human  affairs  that  they  continue  to  repro- 
duce themselves  to  the  end  of  time.  Such  was  this 
voyage  of  the  apostle  to  Europe.  It  carried  into  the 
West  that  faith  which  was  to  type  European  society, 
and   infuse  into   it  all  that  wonderful   energy  which 


ON  BOARD  THE  STEAMER    ESPERO.  495 

would  make  it  what  it  is  to-day.  In  fact,  the  gospel 
contained  all  that  is  distinctive  in  the  Western  civili- 
zation, in  germ.  Long  time  was  necessary  to  bring 
it  into  full  development — indeed,  it  is  not  yet  at  its 
highest  point ;  but,  after  being  repressed  and  retard- 
ed for  ages,  its  proper  issue  began  to  appear  in  the 
higher  civilization  of  Europe  and  America. 

If  all  this  is  true — and  it  seems  to  me  to  be 
unquestionably  so — then  St.  Paul  carried  in  his  own 
person  across  the  ^Egean  Sea,  to  Europe,  the  print- 
ing-press, the  telescope,  the  cotton-gin,  the  power- 
loom,  the  modern  plow,  the  steam-engine,  the  micro- 
scope, the  magnetic  telegraph,  railroads,  Kepler,  Sir 
Isaac  Newton,  the  Herschels,  Christopher  Columbus, 
and  America.     What  a  cargo  for  one  little  ship  ! 

When  Asia  took  Mohammed  to  be  its  Prophet, 
rejecting  Christ  as  its  Saviour,  it  staggered  back 
some  centuries  toward  the  barbarism  from  which  it 
had  emerged.  Since  that  time  it  has  had  its  history 
of  wars,  has  witnessed  the  creation  and  decay  of 
great  empires  ;  but  in  government,  in  art,  in  industry, 
in  science,  in  commerce,  its  only  movement  has  been 
in  a  retrograde  direction.  At  one  time  the  Moslem 
power  seemed  to  have  sufficient  force  to  subjugate 
Europe,  and  did  actually  establish  its  capital  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  Bosphorus  ;  but  there  was  wanting 
that  inward  vitality  which  would  suffice  for  develop- 
ment ;  and  now  at  this  moment,  hnving  given  the 
seeds  of  civilization  to  the  West,  Asia  is  receiving 
back  from  the  West  the  ripened  fruit.  The  tide  of 
life  that  rolled  westward  is  now,  after  so  many  ages, 
returning  in  a  refluent  wave  upon  the  shores  from 
which  it  took  its  first  departure.     The  little  of  new 


496  ON  BOARD  THE  STEAMER    ESPERO. 

life  that   is  starting  up  in  the   East  at  this  moment 
comes  from  Europe  and  America. 

And  most  deeply  is  the  new  life  of  the  West 
needed  here.  If  we  saw  men  made  beasts  of  burden 
in  Japan  and  China,  we  have  seen  the  same  thing  in 
a  worse  form  here.  The  most  fearful  burdens  are 
borne  on  men's  backs.  They  are  actually  prepared 
by  a  pack-saddle  so  constructed  as  to  distribute  the 
burden  evenly  all  along  the  spine.  On  this  the  most 
incredible  loads  are  placed,  and  the  loaded  man, 
■going  half  bent,  approximates  the  very  posture  of  a 
•dumb  brute.  I  saw  two  men  in  Smyrna  carrying  a 
log  that  I  am  sure  any  six  men  I  ever  knew  in 
America  would  have  found  too  heavy  for  them,  even 
for  a  rod  or  two ;  but  these  men  had  it  to  carry  for  a 
great  distance.  These  pack-saddles  are  in  common 
use  in  Constantinople,  and  men  maybe  seen  stagger- 
ing under  great  boxes  and  barrels  along  every  street. 
To-day  I  saw  three  men  strain  themselves  painfully 
in  lifting  a  bale  of  cotton  upon  the  back  of  another, 
who  walked  off  with  it  I  know  not  how  far.  The 
doom  of  the  laboring  man  here  is  not  overdrawn  in 
M:he  primal  curse.  Two  words  give  the  sum  of  his 
'existence — overwork  and  scant  pay.  What  horses, 
and  mules,  and  steam,  and  wheels,  do  in  America, 
men  do  in  Asia. 

The  plain  of  Troy  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the 
Dardanelles — the  Hellespont — which  is  a  long,  nar- 
row strait  connecting  the  yEgean  Sea  with  the 
Sea  of  Marmora,  which  is  again  connected  with  the 
Black  Sea  by  the  Bosphorus.  On  the  west  side  of 
this  strip  of  waters  is  Europe,  which  we  sighted  first 
at  the  entrance  of  the  Dardanelles,  May  7.     Nov.  23 


ON  BOARD  THE  STEAMER  ESPERO.        497 

we  had  landed  at  Yokohama,  and  from  that  day  to 
this,  with  the  exception  of  eight  or  ten  days  in 
Egypt,  we  had  been  traveling  in  Asia — a  period  of 
more  than  five  months.  What  a  wor.d  in  itself  this 
great  continent  is  !  so  vast  in  extent,  and,  in  many 
parts,  teeming  so  with  human  life.  More  than  one- 
half  of  the  human  race  live  on  it,  for  its  population 
exceeds  that  of  Europe,  Africa,  and  America.  In 
some  parts  of  it  there  was  once  the  highest  civiliza- 
tion, but  at  this  time  the  most  cultivated  and 
enlightened  portions  of  it  have  a  civilization,  cer- 
tain!}', of  a  very  low  order.  I  know  there  is  a  class 
of  literary  men  who  will  criticise  a  statement  of  this 
sort,  and  affirm  that  I  am  unjustly  applying  to  them 
my  standard  of  civilization,  and  judging  them  by 
that,  and  that  there  can  be  no  absolute  standard. 
Of  course  this  class  of  men  affect  great  large- 
mindedness,  if  not  great  wisdom;  but,  in  truth,  they 
seem  to  me  to  be  shallow  in  proportion  to  their 
breadth. 

Is  there  not,  after  all,  a  positive  standard  by  which 
all  civilization  is  to  be  judged?  It  seems  to  me  so. 
The  general  intelligence  of  the  common  people,  the 
cultivation  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  the  comforts  and 
refinements  found  among  the  laboring  classes,  archi- 
tectural elegance  of  houses,  command  of  the  forces 
of  nature,  and  such  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  nature 
as  to  free  the  mind  from  a  superstitious  feeling  with 
regard  to  its  operations — these,  among  other  things, 
it  seems  to  me,  give  a  just  standard  by  which  all 
civilization  must  be  tried.  Judged  by  such  a  stand- 
ard, there  is  no  civilization  of  any  high  order  from 
Yokohama  to  the  Dardanelles.     Much  has  been  writ- 


49^        ON  BOARD  THE  STEAMER  ESPERO. 

ten  about  the  magnificence  of  Oriental  architecture  ; 
but  we  saw  no  really  elegant  architecture  that  is  not 
to  be  traced  to  European  influence,  unless  a  few  of  the 
most  famous  mosques  may  be  excepted,  but  it  is  not, 
by  any  means,  certain  that  they  are  exceptions,  prop- 
erly. It  is  certain  that  the  most  celebrated  edifices 
of  the  Moguls  in  India  owe  their  magnificence  and 
perfection  chiefly  to  European  artists. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  work  of  the  Presby- 
terian Board  of  Missions  in  Syria.  What  is  called 
the  Turkey  Mission  is  in  the  hands  of  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  of  Foreign  Missions.  The 
work  in  this  field  has  been,  and  still  is,  prosperous. 
It  lies  in  European  Turkey  and  Asia  Minor.  It  has 
quite  a  large  number  of  Churches,  widely  scattered, 
with  a  membership  of  near  6,000,  and  a  registered 
Protestant  community  of  30,000. 

Registered  Protestajit  Community .  This  phrase  sug- 
gests a  state  of  things  which  the  American  reader 
will  not  understand.  Every  person  in  Turkey  is 
registered  as  of  some  faith,  for  purposes  of  the  civil 
and  municipal  administration — especially  the  collec- 
tion of  the  taxes.  Each  religious  community  in  a 
village — Mussulman,  Greek  Orthodox,  Greek  Cath- 
olic, Maronite,  Druse,  Protestant — has  a  chief  person 
through  whom  the  Government  deals  with  the  com- 
munity. This  person  is  notified  of  the  amount  of 
tax  his  community  is  expected  to  pay.  The  Gov- 
ernment looks  to  him  for  it,  and  he  collects  it  as  he 
may  choose.  But  if  he  reports  any  one  as  delinquent 
the  Government  authorities  quarter  a  soldier  in  the 
house  until  the  amount  is  forthcoming.  The  soldier 
makes  himself  at  home,  orders  whatever  he  wants, 


CONSTANTINOPLE.  499 

and  makes  himself  a^  intolerable  as  possible.  The 
poor  tax-payer  in  such  cicumstances  will  sell  his 
last  she-goat,  or  borrow  money  at  any  rate  of  inter- 
est, to  rid  his  family  of  the  hateful  intruder. 

Before  any  man  has  himself  registered  as  a  Pro- 
testant he  has  weighed  the  matter  well.  Especially 
as  in  most  cases  he  will  be  subjected  to  many  mor- 
tifications and  annoyances  by  so  doing,  for  gener- 
ally there  is  very  pronounced  and  vexatious  opposi- 
tion. It  is  known  that  many  are  very  favorably  dis- 
posed, and,  indeed,  secretly  convinced,  who  have 
not  yet  had  the  courage  to  come  out.  But  as  the 
Protestant  communities  become  stronger,  and  grow 
to  such  numbers  in  given  localities  as  to  suffice  for 
all  social  ends,  adhesion  becomes  less  difficult,  and 
the  work  progresses  more  rapidly. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

CONSTANTINOPLE. 

\  -  /HE  best  position  for  a  great  capital,  both  politi- 
cal and  commercial,  in  the  world  we  inhabit  is 
that  occupied  by  the  city  of  the  Sultan.     Any 
one  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  study  its  geographi- 
cal relations  will  soon  convince  himself  of  this  fact. 


500  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

It  is  the  center  of  the  most  remarkable  system  of 
waters,  the  like  of  which  is  nowhere  else  found.  It 
has  the  preat  Mediterranean  Sea  on  one  hand,  and 
the  Black  Sea  on  the  other,  and  is  on  that  most  re- 
markable .  channel  which  connects  the  two  with  a 
depth  of  water  at  all  points  much  more  than  suffi- 
cient for  the  largest  vessels.  The  Mediterranean  is 
2,500  miles  long  from  Gibraltar' to  Beyroot,  with  a 
coast  line  greatly  extended  by  the  yEgean  and  Adri- 
atic Seas.  It  washes  the  shores  of  Europe,  Asia  and 
Africa,  and  touches  many  of  the  fairest  and  most 
fertile  regions  of  the  earth.  Human  civilization 
dawned  upon  its  shores.  From  immemorial  ages  it 
has  been  the  highway  of  an  opulent  commerce.  The 
length  of  its  coast  line,  following  all  its  irregularities, 
and  taking  its  larger  islands  into  account,  is  more 
than  10,000  miles.  On  the  other  side  the  Black  Sea 
extends  from  the  Bosphorus  to  the  Caucasus,  bound- 
ing Asia  Minor  and  Armenia  on  the  north,  and 
Western  Russia  on  the  south,  having  its  coast  line 
extended  by  the  Sea  of  Azof,  and  receiving  the 
waters  of  the  Danube,  the  Dnieper,  and  the  Don, 
opens  to  it  a  vast  area  and  some  of  the  richest 
regions  of  Europe.  Thus  all  of  Western  Asia, 
Eastern  Europe,  and  Northern  Africa,  are  at  the  very 
door  of  Constantinople,  which  is  accessible  to  them 
by  easy  water  communication,  and  is  so  related  to 
the  different  parts  as  to  hold  the  thread  of  their  com- 
merce in  her  hand.  The  area  that  she  thus  com- 
mands extends  over  a  range  of  latitude  and  embraces 
a  variety  of  productions  which  ought  to  give  rise  to 
the  most  active  commerce,  of  which  she  would  be 
the  center  and  chief  point  of  distribution.     Then  the 


CONSTANTINOPLE.  501 

Straits  of  Gibraltar  and  the  Suez  Canal  open  all  the 
world  to  her,  east  and  west.  If  the  Bosphorus  had 
been  in  the  hands  of  the  people  who  have  made 
London,  Constantinople  would  have  been  equal  to 
two  or  three  Londons. 

Just  at  the  end  of  the  Bosphorus,  where  it  enters 
the  Sea  of  Marmora,  is  Constantinople,  on  the  Euro- 
pean side.  As  you  enter  from  the  sea  of  Marmora 
you  have  the  city  on  your  left.  By  the  time  you 
fairly  enter  the  Bosphorus  you  see  an  arm  of  water  a 
mile  wide  starting  out  at  right  angles  from  it  on 
your  left.  It  penetrates  the  land  about  ten  miles, 
first  in  a  direct  course,  and  then,  toward  the  head  of 
it,  curving  to  the  right.  This  is  the  Golden  Horn, 
the  mouth  of  which  is  the  harbor  of  the  city,  which 
lies  on  the  sea  on  one  side  and  on  the  Golden  Horn 
on  the  other,  with  an  oval  point  on  the  Bosphorus,  as 
the  shore  curves  around  and  turns  up  the  Horn. 
The  business  front  is  on  the  Horn. 

But,  as  at  New  York,  there  are  three  cities  here — 
one  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Golden  Horn,  called 
Pera,  or  sometimes  Galata,  and  one  on  the  Asiatic 
side  of  the  Bosphorus,  called  Scutari.  The  principal 
city  itself  is  called  Stamboul  by  the  Turks.  So,  on 
the  western  side  of  the  Bosphorus  there  are  Stamboul 
and  Pera  in  Europe,  with  the  Golden  Horn  dividing 
them,  and  on  the  opposite  side  Scutari  in  Asia. 
Southward  from  Scutari,  and  only  a  short  distance 
from  it,  fronting  on  the  sea,  is  the  old  city  of  Chal- 
cedon,  a  place  of  little  consequence  now. 

This  cluster  of  cities  is  said  to  contain  a  popula- 
tion of  1,000,000. 

The  shores  of  the  Bosphorus  are  bold  and  beautiful 


502  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

in  a  very  high  degree,  often  rising  in  steep  elevations 
of  three  or  four  hundred  feet,  just  above  the  city. 
The  ground  on  which  the  city  itself  stands  is  not  so 
elevated,  but  sufficiently  so  for  the  finest  effect  in  the 
display  of  its  buildings.  Those  which  show  to  the 
best  effect  are  the  mosques,  of  which  there  are 
several  very  large  ones,  their  domes  and  minarets 
rising  above  all  other  buildings,  with  a  cluster  of 
smaller  domes  around  the  base  of  the  great  one.  In 
Stamboul  there  are  also  the  buildings  of  the  Sublime 
Porte — that  is,  the  great  Government  offices — not  in 
a  very  commanding  position.  But  the  building 
occupied  by  the  Minister  of  War  is  some  distance 
from  the  others,  on  a  commanding  site.  Besides 
these  public  buildings  and  mosques  the  houses  of 
Stamboul  are  generally  of  a  poor  class.  The  same 
is  true  of  Scutari.  But  a  large  part  of  the  city  of 
Pera  is  occupied  by  Europeans,  and  in  this  quarter 
the  houses  will  average  well  with  those  of  our  Amer- 
ican cities.  The  East  and  the  West  are  face  to  face 
here.  You  may  pass  from  the  streets  occupied  by 
elegant  European  retail  stores,  cross  the  Golden 
Horn  on  a  bridge,  and  in  twenty  minutes  find  your- 
self in  the  midst  of  an  Oriental  bazaar.  The  contrast 
is  striking  and  impressive.  The  two  civilizations  are 
represented  in  the  aspects  of  the  contrasting  scenes. 
The  European  shop,  or  store  as  we  call  it  in  America, 
with  ample  room,  and  goods  classified  and  neatly 
ranged  on  shelves,  the  whole  place  having  an  aspect 
of  order  and  convenience,  with  an  air  of  artistic 
arrangement,  on  an  open  street,  belongs  to  a  different 
world  from  the  narrow,  covered  street  of  the  bazaar, 
with   its   little     crowded    shops,   eight   or   ten   feet 


CONSTANTINOPLE.  503 

square,  having  the  whole  front  open  upon  the  very- 
edge  of  the  street;  or,  what  is  often  seen,  the  goods 
exposed  for  sale  in  the  street  itself,  sometimes  on  a 
little  platform,  and  not  unfrequently  on  a  piece  of 
canvas,  spread  on  the  pavement. 

In  Stamboul  there  is  no  room  for  carriages,  except 
on  one  or  two  thoroughfares.  Even  in  Pera  only  a 
few  of  the  streets  are  wide  enough  for  wheels,  and 
they  are  paved  so  badly  with  stones  a  foot  in  diam- 
eter, as  to  make  it  unpleasant.  Most  persons  get 
about  on  foot,  or  on  horseback. 

We  reached  Constantinople  on  the  same  steamer 
with  Dr.  Schaff's  party.  An  English  gentleman  and 
his  two  daughters  had  joined  the  party  at  Bey  root, 
so  that  we  had  quite  a  crowd  together.  On  landing, 
there  was  a  little  show  of  examining  trunks  by  a 
custom-house  official,  and  tl  1  the  baggage  was 
placed  on  the  backs  of  the  human  animals,  who 
were  waiting  for  a  job.  A  walk  of  half  a  mile  up  a 
rather  steep  street,  paved  with  large  stones  so  as  to 
make  a  lumpy  surface,  each  stone  being  from  six  to 
twelve  inches,  brought  us  to  the  Luxembourg  Hotel. 
It  is  the  poorest  hotel  in  the  city,  having  any  claim 
to  respectability,  a  fact  which  we  did  not  know 
beforehand.  If  we  had  the  thing  to  do  over  again 
we  would  never  set  foot  inside  of  it. 

We  were  in  Pera.  After  breakfast  the  whole 
party  started  out  to  see  Stamboul  on  horseback. 
Y0.1  ought  to  have  seen  us,  ten  men  and  four  ladies, 
four  of  the  men  Americans,  counting  Dr.  Schaff,  all 
the  others  English,  mounted  on  fat  stallions  that 
were  squealing  and  spoiling  for  a  fight  all  the  time. 
It  happened  that  the  finest  one  of  the  lot  fell  to  me 


504  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

1 — a  magnificent  Arab,  pure  white,  fat,  well  groomed, 
and  so  full  of  life  that  he  could  not  hold  himself 
still.  But  he  was  well  broken,  and  by  nature,  tracta- 
ble. Besides  that,  he  had  the  most  powerful  bit, 
with  tremendous  leverage ;  it  almost  hurt  my  con- 
science to  draw  upon  the  reins.  Three  hostlers  went 
along  on  foot,  whose  business  it  was,  when  two  of 
the  horses  charged  upon  each  other,  to  dash  in  and 
part  them.  We  crossed  over  to  Stamboul,  went  to 
the  Sublime  Porte,  and  got  a  firman  authorizing  us 
to  enter  the  mosques,  rode  through  the  streets  an 
hour  or  two,  and  passed  out  through  the  old  wall  at 
the  Seven  Towers.  How  proudly  my  Arab  did 
comport  himself,  and  how  anxious  he  seemed  to 
whip  every  other  horse  in  the  ■  crowd;  yet  he 
responded  to  my  voice  and  hand  with  more  of  affec- 
tion than  fear,  apparently,  so  that  I  soon  felt  quite 
at  my  ease.  But  after  we  got  beyond  the  wall,  some 
of  the  party  set  off,  not  on  a  gallop,  but  on  a  run  at 
full  speed.  I  thought  my  Arab  would  go  mad.  He 
was  fairly  frantic  with  the  irrepressible  sense  of 
power.  To  be  passed  and  left  behind  by  meaner 
horses  was  too  much.  It  took  the  full  advantage  of 
the  powerful  bit  to  enable  me  to  moderate  him  into 
a  rapid  gallop,  and  at  that  he  bounded  into  the  air, 
and  shook  his  head,  and  kicked,  so  that  he  was  a 
magnificent  spectacle.  Could  an  old-time  Methodist 
preacher  be  condemned  if  he  enjoyed  such  a  moment 
with  a  sort  of  intoxication  of  delight?  In  fact  I 
claim  credit  for  not  disgracing  the  cloth  by  distanc- 
ing every  thing  on  the  field.  I  scarcely  know  any 
thing  in  the  way  of  physical  enjoyment  better  than 
the  sense  of  being  borne  along  by  a  bounding  horse 


CONSTANTINOPLE.  505 

that  scarcely  feels  your  weight  while  yet  you  rein 
him  and  control  him  at  your  will. 

We  visited  all  the  principal  mosques,  though  none 
of  them  are  equal  to  the  great  mosques  at  Cairo,  nor 
at  all  comparable  to  the  Mosque  of  Omar  at  Jerusa- 
lem. That  of  St.  Sophia  has  a  special  interest  for 
Christians,  as  it  was  built  for  a  Christian  church,  and 
long  used  as  such.  The  Moslems  changed  it  in 
some  respects,  but  the  body  of  the  building  is  as  it 
was  made  at  first.  In  some  places  even  the  cross  is 
to  be  seen,  though,  in  most  instances,  it  is  more  or 
less  mutilated.  It  was  built  by  the  Emperor  Justi- 
nian, who  boasted,  when  it  was  dedicated,  that  he 
had  eclipsed  the  work  of  Solomon.  It  is  indeed  a 
magnificent  structure.  But  I  cannot  undertake  to 
describe  it.  Another  old  Christian  church,  the 
Church  of  St.  Irene,  is  now  used  as  an  arsenal. 
Guns,  and  pistols,  and  swords,  are  stacked  all  over 
the  floor,  and  hang  thick  on  all  the  walls  and  col- 
umns. 

We  happened  at  Constantinople  at  the  time  of  the 
Annual  Meeting  of  the  Missionaries.  It  was  an 
occasion  of  great  interest,  especially  as  the  war  just 
commenced  may  place  some  of  the  missionaries  in 
the  interior  in  difficult,  and  even  perilous,  situations. 
Their  annual  sacramental-service  was  one  of  much 
interest,  and  constituted  another  occasion,  of  which 
we  have  enjoyed  so  many,  in  which  we  might  com- 
mune with  the  people  of  God  in  the  symbols  of  our 
Lord's  death.  From  San  Francisco  on,  our  way  has 
been  marked  by  sacramental  opportunities.  What 
though  these  brethren  are  not  of  our  own  immediate 
sect?  and  the  service  not  in  the  form   we   are  most 


506  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

accustomed  to  ?  They  are  the  followers  of  our 
Lord,  and  this  bread  is  broken  "in  remembrance  of 
him."  Moreover,  they  are  men  who  have  forsaken 
all  to  follow  Christ.  Our  fellowship  with  them  is 
deep  and  holy. 

At  that  service  I  met  the  Rev.  Dr.  Long,  of  the 
M.  E.  Church.  He  was  the  first  Superintendent  of 
the  Bulgarian  Mission  of  that  Church,  but  has  been 
now  for  some  years  Professor  of  Natural  Science  in 
the  Robert  College  at  Constantinople. 

The  history  of  this  institution  is  a  remarkable  one. 
Mr.  Robert,  a  merchant  in  New  York  City,  a  man 
intelligent  in  Oriental  and  missionary  affairs,  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  cause  of  Christ  would  be 
served  in  a  very  effectual  way  by  the  establishment 
of  a  college,  under  evangelical  auspices,  at  Constan- 
tinople. He  had  the  good  fortune  to  secure  ground 
near  the  city,  on  which  he  erected  a  large  stone 
building,  well  adapted  to  its  purposes.  It  is  situated 
six  miles  from  the  lower  bridge  of  the  Golden  Horn, 
on  one  of  the  most  commanding  summits  in  the 
vicinity,  just  at  a  curve  of  the  Bosphorus,  command- 
ing a  magnificent  view  of  that  most  remarkable 
channel  in  both  directions,  toward  the  city,  and 
toward  the  Black  Sea.  The  view  from  the  summit 
of  the  college-edifice  is  remarkably  imposing. 
Across  the  Bosphorus  the  Asiatic  hills  rise  in  grand 
masses,  steamers  and  sails  dot  the  water-line  below, 
villages  in  quick  succession  lie  along  the  shore,  the 
palaces  and  suburbs  of  the  city,  on  both  banks, 
refresh  the  eye  to  the  right,  the  Black  Sea  is  just 
beyond  the  range  of  vision  on  the  left,  the  hills  of 
Europe  lie  in  the  rear,  while  the  curve  of  the  Bos- 


CONSTANTINOPLE.  507 

phorus,  with  its  deep  depression  between  the  two  con- 
tinents, forms  a  magnificent  arc  on  the  cord  of  which 
the  college  stands.  I  believe  I  have  never  known  a 
public  building  in  so  grand  a  situation. 

Upon  the  invitation  of  Dr.  Long,  I  spent  a  night 
at  the  college.  There  have  been  as  many  as  200 
students  at  one  time  in  attendance,  though  the  num- 
ber at  present  is  reduced  to  120.  The  cause  of  the 
falling  off  is  not  to  be  sought  outside  of  the  prostra- 
tion of  the  business  of  the  country,  which  sympa- 
thizes with  the  universal  stagnation  in  Europe  and 
America,  and,  from  local  causes,  is  exceptionally 
severe  in  Turkey.  I  was  informed  by  intelligent 
men  that  for  two  years  there  has  been  no  business 
done  here  beyond  a  trade  in  the  necessaries  of  life. 

Students  come  from  all  parts,  but  chiefly  from 
Bulgaria.  Three  or  four  different  languages  are 
represented  among  them,  and  as  it  is  necessary  to 
have  a  uniform  language  for  the  college,  the  English 
has  been  selected.  Before  entering  the  classes  the 
student  must  be  able  to  pass  an  examination  in  that 
language. 

This  institution  is  not  connected  with  any  Church, 
but  is  founded  upon  a  strictly  evangelical  basis. 
The  religion  of  the  Bible  is  taught  in  it  as  a  part  of 
the  curriculum,  and  the  word  is  preached  in  its 
chapel.  Its  graduates  go  abroad  everywhere,  deeply 
grounded  in  the  saving  truths  of  the  Christian  faith. 

The  curriculum  of  the  college  covers  the  whole 
classical  and  scientific  course,  and  it  has  established 
the  reputation  of  thoroughness  wanting  in  the 
native  schools,  which  must  in  better  times  command 
a  large  patronage  among    the  higher  classes.     The 


508  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

scientific  and  philosophical  apparatus,  I  observed,  is 
very  ample  and  in  excellent  condition. 

In  company  with  Dr.  Schaff  I  attended  the  open- 
ing exercises  in  the  morning.  After  roll-call,  reading 
of  the  Scriptures  in  concert  in  English,  and  prayer 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Washburn,  the  acting  President,  Dr. 
Schaff  was  called  upon  to  address  the  students. 
When  "the  old  man  eloquent"  sat  down,  the  cheer- 
ing was  the  heartiest  I  ever  heard  in  a  college.  As 
for  myself,  I  will  risk  the  egotism  of  saying  that  the 
opportunity  of  addressing  those  )^oung  men  was  one 
of  the  most  gratifying  incidents  of  my  tour.  I  have 
rarely  had  a  better  average  of  faces  before  me,  or 
spoken  to  a  more  attentive  or  responsive  audience. 
By  the  way,  I  had  one  false  impression  corrected.  I 
had  supposed  that  every  Sclav  had  light  hair  and 
complexion,  and  blue  eyes.  In  many  instances  quite 
the  reverse  is  true. 

The  Mohammedan  patronage  of  the  school  has 
always  been  small.  Just  now  there  are  none  of  that 
class.  Missionary  laborers  here  have  little  or  no 
access  to  the  Moslem  population.  It  is  next  to  im- 
possible for  a  Mohammedan  to  avow  himself  a  con- 
vert to  Christianity,  not  only  on  account  of  the  over- 
whelming social  pressure,  but  also  on  account  of  offi- 
cial interference.  It  is  among  nominal  Christians 
alone  that  anything  is  or  can  be  done,  so  long  as  the 
Ottoman  rule  continues. 

The  Turks  impress  rne  favorably  in  some  respects. 
Physically,  they  are  a  fine  race.  After  their  fashion, 
they  are  cultivated.  Their  manners  are  easy  and 
pleasant.  So  long  as  their  religious  prejudices  are 
out  of  sight,  they  are  polite.     They  are  brave  and 


CONSTANTINOPLE.  5O9 

self-possessed.  As  a  matter  cf  course,  there  must 
be  great  force  in  them  to  have  acquired,  and  to  re- 
tain for  centuries,  such  foothold  in  Europe.  The 
time  was  when  it  seemed  as  if  they  would  master 
the  whole  of  Europe.  True,  their  power  has  been 
waning  for  a  long  time  how,  and  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century  they  have  owed  their  continued  existence, 
in  Europe  at  least,  to  the  English.  For  some  real 
or  fancied  cause,  England  has  thought  it  necessary 
to  her  general  policy  to  keep  the  Sultan  on  the  Bos- 
phorus.  But  in  spite  of  all,  the  work  of  disintegra- 
tion goes  on.  She  has  lost  Greece,  as  well  as 
Eastern  Hungary.  Roumania  and  Servia  are  as 
good  as  lost.  She  finds  little  Montenegro  more  than 
a  match  for  her.  It  is  said  she  is  ready  to  give  up 
Crete.  Even  in  Syria,  the  Government  of  the  Leba- 
non has  a  certain  autonomy,  which  almost  amounts 
to  independence.  In  Africa  she  retains  only  a  pre- 
tense of  suzerainty  over  Egypt  and  the  Barbary 
States,  and  it  is  likely  that  before  these  lines  are  in 
print  her  boundary  will  be  changed  so  that  both  in 
the  East  and  in  the  West  she  will  show  a  diminished 
area  upon  the  map. 

The  cause  of  this  is  inherent  in  the  Turks  them- 
selves. They  are  not  progressive  ;  they  are  a  human 
fossil.  In  immediate  contact  with  that  Europe  which 
is  so  vital  with  forces  born  of  Christian  thought,  fos- 
sil Turkey  must  suffer  disintegration.  It  is  the  order 
of  the  day  to  exhume  and  scatter  fossils — to  label 
them,  and  lay  them  away  in  museums.  The  Turk  is 
a  barbarian,  and  barbarism  cannot  exist  in  Europe. 
The  day  is  rapidly  approaching  when  it  can  no  longer 
exist  even  in  Asia;  but  in  Europe  it  is  already  intol- 


5IO  CC.sS^aNTII.OPLE. 

erable.  Bplg?riar  massacres,  under  the  very  nose  of 
Christian  Europe,  are  a  stench  that  cannot  be  borne. 
Upon  no  precext  of  financial  or  imperial  exigency 
can  England  continue  to  patronize  such  a  Govern- 
ment. i\t  this  moment  the  ministry  of  Great  Britain 
represent  the  commercial  and  imperial  instincts  of 
the  nation  on  the  Eastern  question,  while  Gladstone 
represents  the  conscience  of  the  English  people. 
The  Ministry,  it  is  true,  have  had  a  sort  of  formal 
triumph  in  Parliament;  but  Christian  civilization  has 
the  real  triumph  in  the  fact  that  the  Government  is 
forced  to  declare  itself  neutral  in  the  war,  thus  aban- 
doning its  barbarian  protege  to  its  fate. 

Events  crowd  upon  each  other  in  time  of  war,  and 
I  am  well  aware  that  before  this  gets  into  type  there 
may  be  a  new  state  of  facts.  In  any  course  of 
eventualities,  the  Powers,  especially  England,  will 
see  to  it  that  the  supremacy  of  the  Bosphorus  shall 
not  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Russians. 

But  the  day  is  advancing  when  the  empire  of  the 
Sultan  will  be  no  more.  The  gangrene  has  spread 
too  far  and  struck  too  deep  to  be  arrested.  Even 
the  Turks  themselves  feel  that  they  are  under  the 
shadow  of  a  swift-coming  doom.  The  hour  is  inevit- 
able, and  is  near,  and  Europe  will  have  to  assemble 
her  embassadors  in  high  debate  on  the  question  of 
the  Bosphorus  and  of  Constantinople.  The  Bos- 
phorus must  be  free — must  be  the  property  of  the 
world.  So  much,  I  suppose,  may  be  taken  as  a  fore- 
gone conclusion.  But  to  whom  shall  Syria  belong? 
and  Asia  Minor  ?  and  the  European  Provinces  ? 
Poor  preparation  for  self-government  is  there  any- 
where.    How  shall  they  be  preserved  from  anarchy  ? 


CONSTANTINOPLE.  5  I  I 

How  shall  the  advance  of  civilization  be  assured  to 
them  ?  Must  they  be  partitioned  among  the  Great 
Powers  ?  or  is  local  government,  under  the  protecto- 
rate of  the  Powers,  possible  ?  What  greed  of  empire 
may  not  be  awakened  ! 

But  above  all,  Constantinople  ? — how  to  dispose  of 
Constantinople  ?  Let  it  be  a  free  city,  say  some. 
Let  the  young  kingdom  of  Greece  have  it,  say 
others.  Ah  !  Greece,  a  new  destiny  of  empire  dawn- 
ing upon  Athens  ?  Who  can  tell?  At  the  least,  she 
will  desire  to  annex  Thessaly  and  Macedon.  WTith 
less  than  this  she  can  scarcely  be  a  respectable 
power. 

But  the  future  is  not  within  my  horoscope.  At 
best,  I  can  only  see  men  as  trees,  walking.  The 
light  of  the  present  is  reflected  upon  it  but  dimly. 
But  at  dawn  we  know  the  sun  is  flaming  along  up 
toward  the  horizon,  and  that  under  his  resplendent 
disc  the  damps  and  darkness  of  the  night  will  vanish 
like  the  hideous  phantasms  of  an  oppressive  dream. 
All  "  mephitic  vapors"  and  stifling,  miasmatic  death- 
odors  will  be  dissipated.  And  the  dawn  is  upon  the 
Levant — not  Phoebus,  drawn  by  celestial  steeds 
evolving  rlame  by  friction  from  his  whirling  wheels, 
but  the  very  Sun  of  righteousness  is  mounting 
the  sky  and  taking  supremacy  amid  the  signs  of 
heaven.  The  doom  of  barbarism  is  in  his  coming. 
"  Mephitic  vapors"  of  ignorance,  and  the  mouldy 
smell  of  superstition,  and  oppression,  and  despotism, 
and  infidelity,  must  yield  to  the  glow  of  his  benefi- 
cent beams.  So  much  we  may  predict  with  assur- 
ance, but  what  the  effect  may  be  upon  the  map  of 
the  world  I  cannot  conjecture.     That  must  be  left  to 


512  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

diplomacy,  and,  perhaps — to  war.  But  no  diplo- 
macy, nor  even  war,  brutal  as  it  is,  can  check  the 
civilizing,  saving  power  of  that  blessed  gospel,  whose 
radiance  shines  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day. 

The  preceding  part  of  this  was  written  before  the 
war  had  fairly  commenced.  I  then  supposed  that 
fighting  would  begin  much  sooner  than  it  did,  and 
that  a  few  decisive  battles  would  end  it.  But  the 
unprecedented  floods  in  the  Danube  delayed  opera- 
tions for  more  than  a  month.  This  delay  'was 
invaluable  to  the  Turks,  enabling  them  to  prepare 
for  the  conflict. 

The  forces  of  the  Sultan  have  exceeded  mv 
expectations  only  in  one  respect.  I  knew,  as  I 
said  at  the  time,  that  they  were  "  brave  and  self- 
possessed,"  but  I  did  not  see  how  they  were  to 
command  resources  sufficient  for  one  campaign. 
They  had  not  been  able  to  pay  interest  on  the  pub- 
lic debt  for  three  years.  In  large  portions  of  the 
Empire  the  taxes  had  been  collected  for  a  year  in 
advance,  and  they  were  already  resorting  to  forced 
loans.  With  a  prostrate  commerce  I  did  not  sup- 
pose this  could  be  made  to  yield  so  much  as  it 
has.     This  is  written  Oct.  25,  1877. 

As  to  the  final  issue,  my  opinions  are  not  changed. 
The  success  of  the  Russians  seem  to  me  inevitable, 
and  if  the  disintegration  of  the  Turkish  Empire  is 
delayed  it  will  be  through  the  interference  of  the 
other  great  Powers  of  Europe. 

While  I  say  so  much  as  this,  I  disclaim  any 
special  confidence  in  my  ability  to  understand  the 
future,   but   it   does  seem    to  me  that    the    Turkish 


CONSTANTINOPLE.  5  I  3 

Empire   is    too    rotten  to  stand  in  the  presence  of 
European  civilization. 

To  an  American  it  is  cause  of  gratulation,  upon 
visiting  the  East,  to  find  America  contributing  so 
much  to  the  advance  of  the  dawn  here.  By  preach- 
ing the  gospel,  creating  literature,  and  establishing 
colleges,  the  new  West  beyond  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
is  contributing  mightily  to  the  final  result.  It  can- 
not but  be  that  when  the  revolutionizing  forces  of 
modern  civilization  shall  have  reached  their  issue, 
American  thought  will  be  found  to  have  been  a 
powerful  factor  in  the  processes  which  led  to  it.  For 
myself,  though  there  is  so  little  done  by  Methodists 
of  either  hemisphere  in  this  particular  field,  I  rejoice 
greatly  that  the  work  is  in  hands  so  truly  and  deeply 
evangelical.  The  presence  of  God  is  with  the 
American  missionaries  in  Eastern  Europe  and  West- 
ern Asia.  My  fellowship  with  them  I  have  felt  to  be 
as  unselfish  as  it  is  deep.  If  they  do  not  advance 
the  glory  of  my  particular  Church,  they  do  what  is 
the  only  vital  thing — they  advance  the  glory  of 
Christ. 

But  amidst  it  all  my  heart  yearns  for  China. 
There  is  our  opportunity.  God  himself  has  set  before 
us  the  great  and  effectual  door  there.  By  his  help 
and  grace  we  will  go  in  and  possess  the  land. 

17 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

ATHENS. 

VyVHE  GREAT  Plain  of  Attica  is  bounded  on  the 
south  by  the  Saronic  Gulf,  on  the  west  by 
Mount  ^Egaleos  and  Mount  Parnes,  and  on 
the  east  by  Mount  Hymettus  and  Mount  Pentelicus. 
I  give  the  boundaries  as  if  the  valley  lay  north  and 
south  ;  but,  in  fact,  from  the  south  end  its  course  is 
a  little  east  of  north.  The  highest  of  the  moun- 
tains named  is  a  little  over  3,000  feet.  They  are  bold 
in  outline,  and  in  the  distance  seem  bare.  In  fact, 
there  is  but  a  scant  vegetation  upon  them,  with  here 
and  there  a  slope  covered  thinly  with  trees  of  a  small 
growth. 

This  Great  Plain  has  an  average  width  of  not  more 
than  eight  miles,  and  is  about  twice  as  long  as  it  is 
broad ;  yet,  comparing  one  thing  with  another  in 
Greece,  it  is,  what  its  name  purports,  a  great  plain. 

There  is  a  range  of  independent  hills  running 
north  and  south  in  the  valley,  near  its  eastern  edge, 
rising  southward  from  Pentelicus,  and  terminating 
about  three  miles  from  the  Gulf.  About  midway 
of  this  range  is  Lycabettus,  which  is  the  highest  of 
these  independent  hills,  being  about  900  feet  high. 
South  of  it,  and  in  the  same  range,  though  separated 
from  it  by  a  valley  near  a  mile  in  width,  is  the  Acro- 
polis, 400  feet  high.     To   the   west  and  south  of  the 


ATHENS.  515 

Acropolis  there  are  several  other  elevations,  sepa- 
rated from  it  by  narrow  valleys,  or  ravines  rather, 
from  which  the  range  drops  down  and  ends. 

In  the  valley  between  Lycabettus  and  the  Acro- 
polis lies  the  modern  city  of  Athens — the  neopclisy 
called  by  the  Greeks,  Athene?.  The  old  city  occu- 
pied the  same  area,  and  also  spread  around  the  east- 
ern end,  and  to  the  south  side,  of  the  Acropolis. 

Of  what  this  city  was  in  the  time  of  its  classical 
splendor  I  will  not  write,  nor  of  the  unhappy  vicis- 
situdes of  its  mediaeval  and  later  history.  At  the 
beginning  of  this  century  it  was  a  town  of  10,000 
inhabitants,  but  at  the  end  of  the  revolution  in  1832 
it  was  a  ruin. 

What  it  is  now  it  owes  mainly,  I  suppose,  to  its 
classical  renown ;  for  that,  I  imagine,  more  than  any 
thing  else,  determined  its  selection  as  the  capital  of 
the  new  kingdom  of  Greece.  It  is  not  well  located 
either  for  a  commercial  or  political  center.  Its  salu- 
brious atmosphere,  its  reputed  freedom  from  earth- 
quakes, which  are  frequent  and  severe  at  Corinth, 
and  its  memories,  no  doubt,  secured  for  it  its  pres- 
ent metropolitan  position.  "  What  is  it  that  makes 
Athens?"  I  asked  an  intelligent  Greek.  The  reply 
was  prompt  and  concise :  "  Three  things — it  is  the 
center  of  education — it  is  the  center  of  the  Gov- 
ernment; it  is  the  center  of  Hellenism."  The  cen- 
ter of  Hellenism  —  that  signifies  much.  All  over 
Europe  and  Western  Asia,  and  to  some  extent 
in  Northern  Africa,  there  are  Greek  merchants 
and  bankers,  who  are  generally  prosperous.  When 
they  have  amassed  a  fortune  they  go  to  Athens  to 
live,  or,   in   some   instances,   expend   large   sums   of 


5 16  ATHENS. 

money  there  in  establishing  institutions  of  learning. 
A  family  of  Greek  bankers  in  Vienna  have  devoted 
over  a  million  of  dollars  in  erecting  an  Observatory 
and  an  Academy  of  Sciences  in  the  city  of  Plato. 
Another  has  established  a  great  grammar  school, 
named  for  its  founder,  Varvakion,  his  name  being 
Barbakes.  The  modern  Greeks  give  beta  the  sound 
of  v.  Still  another — Arsakes — has  built  a  girls' 
school,  and  endowed  it  very  handsomely.  This 
school  is  also  named  for  its  founder,  the  Arsakion. 

The  University,  with  its  four  Faculties — of  law, 
theology,  philosophy,  and  medicine — its  pharmaceu- 
tic school,  anatomical  museum,  collection  of  ancient 
coins,  cabinet  of  natural  history,  and  its  library  of 
120,000  volumes,  including  a  good  many  fine  manu- 
scripts, is  a  grand  seat  of  learning  already,  where 
twelve  or  thirteen  hundred  youths  are  in  annual 
attendance. 

There  is  also  an  Archaeological  Society  earnestly 
at  work,  collecting  and  preserving  the  hitherto  neg- 
lected specimens  of  classical  art  that  abound  in  the 
country.  They  have  exhumed  many  fine  speci- 
mens of  sculpture  in  Athens  and  elsewhere,  and 
provided  a  spacious  museum  for  their  preservation 
and  exhibition.  Nearly  all  are  more  or  less  muti- 
lated ;  but,  even  to  an  uncritical  eye,  like  mine,  they 
show  the  genius  that  brought  them  into  existence. 

Thus,  since  its  emancipation  from  the  deadly 
power  of  the  Turk,  in  1832,  Greece  has  brought  her 
great  historical  city  into  a  new  life,  and  started  it 
upon  a  new  career.  From  being  nothing  at  the  end 
of  the  war  of  independence,  Athens  has  come  to  be  a 
city  of  65,000  inhabitants,  with  a  large  proportion  of 


ATHENS.  517 

elegant  houses,  streets  well  paved,  lighted  with  gas, 
and  planted  on  both  sides  with  beautiful  shade-trees. 
Many  of  the  streets  are  narrow  and  irregular;  but 
several  of  them  are  wide  and  beautiful.  In  addition, 
the  old  port  is  revived,  and  Piraeus  has  a  nourishing 
business  and  a  population  of  18,000 — all  this  from 
nothing,  in  the  space  of  forty-five  years.  Even  an 
American  can  afford  to  call  that  Progress.  Ay,  and 
there  are  many  religions  in  the  Levant  which  await 
only  the  day  of  their  redemption  from  the  power  of 
the  Moslem  to  start  up,  like  Greece  and  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Lebanon,  into  development  and  vigor. 
There  is  the  most  lamentable  fatality  in  the  touch  of 
the  Turk.  He  is  the  Upas-shadow  of  the  Levant. 
A  blight  falls  from  him  upon  all  human  activities. 

But  it  is  the  antiquities  of  Athens  that  attract  the 
traveler;  and  while  I  cannot  attempt  any  exhaustive 
account  of  them,  I  will  attempt  a  running  sketch. 

For  this  purpose  let  us  ascend  the  Acropolis. 
Here  we  are,  with  the  city  on  the  north,  at  our  very 
feet;  for  this  Acropolis,  over  400  feet  high,  is  very 
steep.  Beyond  the  city  is  Lycabettus,  rising  abruptly 
900  feet,  and  crowned  with  a  mass  of  perpendicular 
limestone.  To  our  right  is  the  dry  channel  of  the 
Ilissus,  which  separates  this  independent  chain  of 
hills  from  the  Hymettus.  The  Ilissus  is  not  above 
eight  miles  long  in  its  whole  course.  In  the  time  of 
heavy  rains  it  becomes  quite  a  little  torrent;  but 
usually,  as  now,  it  shows  a  naked,  rocky  bed.  Its 
course  is  within  two  or  three  hundred  yards  of  the 
foot  of  the  Acropolis.  East  of  that,  and  from  the 
very  bank  of  it,  the  foot-hills  of  Hymettus  appear, 
and  within  two  miles  the  bold  ridge  of  the  mountain 


5  I  8  ATHENS. 

begins  to  swell  up,  its  summit,  nearly  3,000  feet  high, 
running  north  and  south  for  eight  or  ten  miles. 
North  of  it,  and  a  little  east  of  north  from  us  here  on 
the  Acropolis,  is  Mount  Pentelicus,  projecting  its 
bold,  rounded  mass,  over  3,000  feet  high,  farther 
westward  than  the  line  of  Hymettus,  so  encroaching 
upon  the  valley  on  that  side.  Due  north,  the  eye 
detects  no  mountain  barrier,  though  the  valley  does 
actually  rise  into  low  hills. 

Turning  now  to  the  west,  we  have  a  valley  of  level 
land  about  four  miles  wide  just  opposite  to  us,  and 
still  wider  both  to  the  north  and  to  the  south  of  this 
point.  This  reach  of  level  land  is  covered  with  olive- 
trees,  so  that  it  looks  like  a  forest  from  this  distance, 
but,  in  fact,  the  trees  are  so  thinly  scattered  over  the 
ground  that  there  are  cultivated  fields  and  vineyards 
among  them.  Directly  west  of  us,  beyond  the  olive- 
trees,  is  Mount  ^Egaleos,  about  1,500  feet  high,  and 
north  of  it  Mount  Parnes.  These  are  separated  from 
each  other  by  the  Pass  of  Daphne.  All  these  moun- 
tains in  sight  are  precipitous,  with  scant  vegetation, 
and  trees  growing  only  on  a  few  slopes.  For  the 
most  part  they  are  masses  of  limestone  and  marble. 
If  Lycabettus  were  not  in  our  line  of  vision  we  could 
see,  from  where  we  stand,  a  marble  quarry  on  Pen- 
telicus, as  white  as  snow.  Remember,  we  are  on 
the  Acropolis. 

Turning  to  the  west  again  we  see  a  road  crossing 
the  plain,  and  trace  it  distinctly  to  where  it  disap- 
pears in  the  Pass  of  Daphne.  It  is  the  road  to 
Eleusis. 

Coming  down  from  the  north,  and  running  down 
through  the  plain,  is  the  Cephisus,  hid  from  our  view 


ATHENS.  519 

by  the  olive-trees.  It  is  more  than  twice  the  length 
of  the  Ilissus,  and  has  a  little  water,  though  very  lit- 
tle, in  the  summer  time.  These  two  insignificant 
streams  are  called  rivers  here.  They  are  hard  up  for 
rivers  in  Attica. 

Turning  to  the  south,  and  looking  due  south-west, 
we  see  the  Island  of  Salamis,  at  a  distance  of  not 
more  than  eight  or  ten  miles  from  where  we  stand, 
and  on  this  side  of  it  the  Straits  cf  Salamis.  Just  to 
the  right  also  we  see  the  spur  of  the  mountain  on 
which  the  Persian  monarch  took  his  scut  to  con- 
template the  battle  of  Salamis,  and  witness  the  des- 
truction of  the  Greeks.  But  every  school-boy  knows 
that  Xerxes  did  not  see  what  he  climbed  the  moun- 
tain to  see.  Poor  man,  he  took  a  world  of  pains  to 
bring  that  disaster  upon  his  army  and  himself.  But 
I  am  getting  along  slowly  with  my  description. 
Look  here,  right  over  the  water,  just  to  the  right  of 
Salamis.  Do  you  see  that  oval  hill  in  the  dim  dis- 
tance? That  is  the  Acrocorinthus.  It  is  even  so — 
the  Acropolis  of  Athens  and  that  of  Corinth  are  in 
sight  of  each  other. 

Now  turn  your  eye  a  little  farther  to  the  left  and 
look  still  south-west.  The  houses  you  see  are  in  the 
suburbs  of  Piraeus.  You  can  scarcely  see  the  water 
of  the  harbor,  which  is  a  very  narrow  strip  cf  water 
projecting  right  up  into  the  land.  It  is  of  limited 
extent,  but  very  secure,  and  has  a  depth  cf  water 
sufficient  for  the  largest  steam-ships.  Indeed,  we 
saw  one  of  the  great  iron-clad  monsters  of  the  Eng- 
lish navy  lying  in  it. 

To  the  left  still,  but  yet  west  of  south,  you  see  a 
wider  bay  putting  up  inland.     That   is  the  bay  of 


520  ATHENS. 

Phaleros,  or  Phalerum,  the  old  port  of  Athens  in  the 
ante-classical  times.     Beyond  is  the  Saronic  Gulf. 

Having  now  swept  the  horizon  in  the  distant  view, 
let  us  see  what  lies  close  around  us.  We  have  seen 
the  city  at  our  feet  on  the  north,  in  the  narrow 
depression  between  us  and  the  Lycabettus.  Let  us 
turn  now  toward  the  left.  Due  west  from  the  north 
side  of  the  Acropolis  is  a  much  smaller  hill,  and 
about  half  as  high.  Indeed,  it  is  a  part  of  the  same 
swell  as  the  Acropolis,  though  the  two  summits  are 
divided  by  a  sort  of  ravine,  and  are,  perhaps,  two 
hundred  yards  apart.  The  end  of  it  that  is  toward 
us  is  a  perpendicular  rock,  narrow  and  coming  to  a 
rounded  point.  Toward  the  west  it  slants  down  and 
becomes  much  broader.  Very  near  the  end,  on  the 
south  side,  a  flight  of  steps  is  cut  in  the  perpendicu- 
lar rock.  These  steps  are  well  preserved,  except  one 
or  two  near  the  bottom.  Up  this  stair-way  in  the 
living  rock,  St.  Paul  climbed  to  the  summit  of  Mars' 
Hilly  and  delivered  that  wonderful  sermon  which 
converted  Dionysius  the  Areopagite.  The  court  of 
Areopagus  was  held  here  in  the  open  air.  The  area 
of  the  summit  is  small,  but  taking  in  the  slope  on  the 
west,  from  which  a  man  on  the  highest  point  might 
be  seen  and  heard,  several  thousand  people  might  be 
assembled.  On  the  north  side,  near  the  east  point, 
the  rocks  projected  far  over,  until  some  years  past 
they  were  broken  by  an  earthquake  and  fell  down. 
When  this  mass  of  projecting  rock  fell  the  Cave  of 
the  Furies  ceased  to  exist.  What  has  become  of 
these  fierce  divinities  I  did  not  learn. 

Now  we  look  again  beyond  the  Areopagus,  across 
another  small  ravine,  just  a  little  north  of  west,  and 


ATHENS.  521 

see  another  swell  crowned  by  a  perpendicular  crest 
of  limestone.  There  is  a  modern  building  on  it  now, 
surmounted  by  a  dome.  This  is  the  Observatory 
built  by  the  Vienna  bankers,  and  the  hill  it  stands  on 
is  the  Hill  of  the  Nymphs.  Science  usurps  the  very 
throne  of  Mythology.  If  the  Furies  have  been  dis- 
lodged by  an  earthquake,  so  have  the  Nymphs  by  an 
astronomer  and  a  telescope.  They  are  gone,  all 
gone,  and  I  trod  their  primeval  haunts  without  the 
slightest  feeling  of  trepidation.  Indeed,  I  scarcely 
thought  about  them  at  the  moment. 

But  now — we  are  on  the  Acropolis  still,  you 
know — we  have  never  come  down,  from  the  first — 
there  is  Mars'  Hill  west  of  the  northern  side  of 
the  Arcopolis.  If  we  stand  in  the  center  it  will  be  a 
little  north-west.  Then  there  is  the  Hill  of  the 
Nymphs  farther  over  in  the  same  direction.  Now, 
turn  your  eyes  to  the  left  just  a  little.  A  little  south 
of  west  of  us,  and  due  south  from  the  Hill  of  the 
Nymphs,  is  another  hill,  not  quite  so  high  as  either 
of  the  others  we  have  seen.  The  top  of  this  hill, 
like  the  others,  is  naked  rock,  but  the  rock  does  not, 
as  on  the  others,  rise  up  at  any  point  into  a  cliff. 
But  on  the  northern  declivity  of  it  the  rock  has  been 
cut  down  by  human  hands  to  a  depth  of  ten  or 
twelve  feet,  leaving  a  perpendicular  wall.  In  front 
of  this  the  ground  has  been  leveled  off  into  a  semi- 
circular plat,  a  heavy  wall  having  been  built  in  the 
lowest  part,  so  as  to  level  up  from  that  side  as  well 
as  down  from  the  upper.  Thus  the  northern  side  of 
the  hill  is  the  arc  of  a  circle  artificially  leveled,  and 
the  line  of  rock  cut  as  I  have  mentioned  is  the  cord 
of  the  arc.     Midway  of  this  cord  is  a  mass  of  rock, 


522  ATHENS. 

hewed  as  it  stood  into  proper  shape,  with  plat- 
form and  steps,  to  constitute  a  rostrum.  This  is  the 
Pnyx,  the  place  where  the  popular  assemblies  of 
Athens  were  held,  and  from  which  the  Attic  orators 
"fulmined  over  Greece."  It  was  here,  and  not  on 
the  frontier,  that  the  heroic  Demosthenes  fought 
Philip! 

Turning  still  farther  to  the  left  you  see  the  Hill  of 
the  Muses,  the  highest  point  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  city  except  Lycabettus.  For  aught  I 
know,  the  Muses  are  there  yet,  for  no  modern 
matter-of-fact  intrusion  is  to  be  seen.  As  for  the 
ruins  of  the  monament  of  Philopappus,  I  should 
think  the  Muses  and  it  might  be  at  home  together 
forever.     They  seem  to  be  all  cf  a  sort. 

So  much  for  natural  scenery.  Now  let  us  look  for 
objects  of  "art  and  man's  device." 

First,  then,  a  few  hundred  yards  from  where  we 
stand  you  see  a  new  stone  bridge  across  the  Ilissus. 
Just  there,  in  the  same  place,  was  a  stone  bridge 
2,000  years  ago.  The  only  use  for  a  bridge  there  in 
the  old  time  was  for  an  approach  to  the  Stadium — 
and  the  memories  of  the  Stadium  have  caused  it  to 
be  rebuilt  now. 

The  Stadium.  Imagine  a  perfectly  level  plat  of 
ground  lying  north  and  south,  650  feet  long  by  100 
wide.  Then  imagine  a  steep  ridge  of  ground  around 
the  east  and  west  sides,  and  the  south  end,  from  100 
to  150  feet  high,  the  north  end  being  open,  and  near 
and  opposite  the  Ilissus  bridge.  At  the  south  end  it 
curves  evenly.  The  foot  of  the  ridge  was  trimmed 
to  a  true  line,  straight  on  the  sides,  and  curving 
round  the  oval.     At  a  distance  of  eight  feet  within 


ATHENS.  523 

the  foot  of  the  ridge  all  around  was  formerly  a  para- 
pet wall.  The  eight-foot  way,  between  that  and  the 
foot  of  the  ridge,  was  a  paved  corridor,  the  pave- 
ment being  of  white  marble,  as  was  also  the  parapet. 
The  sides  of  the  hill  all  around  were  seated  with 
white  marble  from  Pentelicus,  with  aisles  running  up 
through  the  tiers  of  seats  from  the  corridor.  Thus 
spectators  crossing  the  bridge  would  enter  the  cor- 
ridor, right  or  left,  and,  passing  along  it,  distribute 
themselves  freely  among  the  seats  to  the  number  of 
50,000. 

An  artificial  underground  way  leads  out  of  the 
Stadium,  through  the  ridge,  near  the  curve. 

The  racers  started  at  the  open  end,  ran  along 
inside  the  parapet,  made  the  curve  at  the  opposite 
end,  and  ran  back  along  the  other  side  to  the  open 
end  again.  The  whole  length  of  the  track,  in  and 
back,  was  about  450  yards.  The  victorious  contes- 
tant was  crowned  on  the  bridge  amid  the  acclama- 
tions of  the  multitude,  while  the  defeated  sneaked 
out  through  the  underground  way,  glad  to  get  out  of 
sight,  and  suffer  unobserved  the  agony  of  their  dis- 
honor. 

Nearer  to  us,  and  on  this  side  of  the  Ilissus,  is  a 
cluster  of  massive  columns,  fourteen  in  all,  and  at  a 
little  distance  two  others,  erect,  and  one  prostrate. 
It  is  only  a  few  years  since  this  one  was  overthrown 
by  a  hurricane.  This  is  what  remains  of  the  great 
Temple  of  Zeus  Olympus,  begun  by  Pisistratus,  B. 
C.  530,  but  left  in  neglect  until  it  was  finished  by 
Adrian,  A.  D.  135. 

Not  far  from  this,  again,  is  the  Arch  of  Adrian,  or 
Hadrian,  as  the  Greeks  write  it.     This  arch  is  not  so 


524  ATHENS. 

grand  an  affair  as  I  expected  a  Roman  arch  to  be, 
nor  is  it  very  massive,  but  it  must  have  been 
excellently  constructed  to  stand  the  wear  and  vicissi- 
tudes of  ages  and  remain  almost  perfect. 

Turning  to  the  east  we  shall  see  a  singular  octag- 
onal structure,  very  small,  situated  in  the  midst  of  a 
suburb  of  the  city.  It  is  much  admired,  and  is  said 
to  be  the  Choragic  Monument  of  Lysicrates,  but  the 
natives  call  it  the  Lantern  of  Demosthenes. 

In  a  northerly  direction  from  where  we  stand  on 
the  Acropolis  is  the  Tower  of  the  Winds,  but  we  do 
not  get  a  good  view  of  it  from  this  point.  It  is  an 
octagonal  structure,  and  served  as  a  sun-dial,  a 
water-clock,  and  a  weathercock.  On  each  of  the 
eight  sides,  on  the  cornice,  there  is  a  human  figure, 
of  nearly,  or  quite,  life  size,  each  one  representing 
the  particular  wind  that  blows  from  his  quarter — 
Boreas,  Zephyr,  and  so  on.  Boreas  is  muffled  in  a 
heavy  cloak,  Zephyr  is  scattering  flowers,  and  so 
each  one  represents  the  nature  of  the  wind  that  blows 
from  his  side.  These  figures  are  not  erect,  but  in  a 
horizontal  posture,  as  if  floating  in  the  air.  The 
Athenians  speak  disparagingly  of  them  as  belonging 
to  the  Roman  period,  and  in  a  somewhat  degenerate 
style  of  art,  but  to  my  uneducated  eye  they  seemed 
to  be  of  a  high  order  cf  merit. 

In  the  same  general  direction  from  our  stand-point 
is  the  Gate  of  the  Market,  so  called  because  it  stood 
near  the  market-place,  but  which,  it  is  said,  formed 
the  entrance  of  a  temple.  Near  it  is  the  Stca  of 
Hadrian.  It  consists  of  a  wall,  one  fluted  column, 
and  several  monolith  Corinthian  columns,  remarkable 
not  so  much  for  their  beauty,  as  that,  being  Corin- 


ATHENS.  525 

thian  monoliths,  they  are  unique,  nothing  else  of  the 
sort  being  found  here.  But  these  objects  are  not  in 
sight  from  the  Acropolis. 

Turning  now  to  the  north-west  we  have  in  full 
view  the  famed  Temple  of  Theseus.  It  is  regarded 
as  a  perfect  piece  of  art  in  its  way,  and  is  the  best 
preserved  of  all  the  buildings  that  remain  here  from 
the  classical  period.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been 
erected  by  Cimon,  B.  C.  470,  because  it  was  said  that 
Theseus  had  appeared  at  the  battle  of  Marathon  and 
secured  the  victory  for  the  Athenians.  It  is  said  to 
be  of  a  style  earlier  than  that  of  the  Parthenon ;  yet 
if  it  was  built  by  Cimon  it  antedated  that  wonderful 
edifice  but  a  very  few  years.  But  it  seems  that 
Pericles  created  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  art. 
This  temple  is  not  a  large  nor  a  veiy  elaborate  one, 
consisting  of  a  cella  and  peristyle,  with  some  elegant 
metopse,  representing  the  achievements  of  Hercules 
and  Theseus.  Its  proportions  are  perfect,  and  the 
sculpture  would  itself  have  rendered  Grecian  art 
immortal,  even  if  Phidias  had  not  followed  with  his 
peerless  chisel. 

But  what  shall  I  say  of  the  Acropolis  itself? 
Hitherto  we  have  been  standing  on  it,  looking  at 
other  objects  near  and  remote.  Nov/  let  us  see  what 
it  is.  It  is  a  hill  about  400  feet  high.  On  three 
sides  it  rises  up  abruptly  from  the  plain;  but  on  the 
west  its  roots,  or  lower  swell,  are  connected  with  the 
Areopagus,  and  more  remotely  with  the  Hill  of  the 
Nymphs  and  the  Pnyx,  which  is  connected  with  the 
Hill  of  the  Muses.  But,  as  to  the  Acropolis,  it  is  to 
be  remembered  that  it  is  immediately  connected  only 
with  the  Areopagus,  and   with  this   only  by  a  com- 


526  ATHENS. 

paratively  low  root  projecting  out  west.  On  the 
north,  east  and  south  it  rises  sheer  out  of  the  plain, 
and  on  the  west  stands  up  boldly  above  the  swell 
that  extends  to  the  Areopagus.  From  the  top  half- 
way down — in  some  places  less  and  in  some  more, 
perhaps — it  is  a  perpendicular  rock,  except  on  the 
west  side,  which  is  steep  but  not  perpendicular.  The 
summit  is  a  plateau,  the  east  half  of  which  is  level, 
and  the  west  a  slightly  inclined  plane.  This  plateau 
is  1,080  feet  long,  east  and  west,  and  540  in  the  other 
direction.  The  rock  at  the  top,  where  it  was  not 
originally  perpendicular,  has  been  made  so  by  walls. 
It  was  originally  the  castle  or  fort  of  the  city. 

Now  look  down  on  the  south  side.  For  200  feet, 
or  thereabouts,  you  have  the  perpendicular  descent, 
and  from  that  point  down  to  the  plain  a  steep  hillside. 
Toward  the  eastern  part  of*  this,  at  the  foot,  you  see 
an  amphitheater  excavated  into  the  side  of  the  hill, 
a  full  half-circle,  with  marble  seats  rising  one  above 
another.  Along  the  cord  of  the  arc,  on  its  lower 
line,  are  stones  which  were  evidently  the  supports  of 
a  marble  platform.  In  front  of  the  platform  is  a  level 
space,  and  beyond  that  the  circular  seats  rising  in 
tiers.  This  is  the  Theater  of  Dionysius.  It  is  all 
open  above  and  in  front,  and  always  was.  The  plays 
were  performed  in  the  open  air.  At  the  west  end  of 
the  south  side  this  lower  part  of  the  hill  is  a  nearer 
approach  to  the  perpendicular.  Here  is  the  Odeum 
of  Herodes  Atticus.  It  is  made  in  the  same  way  as 
the  Theater  of  Dionysius,  only  the  ascent  of  the  am- 
phitheater is  at  a  much  sharper  angle,  and  in  front 
there  is  a  wall.     But  the  amphitheater  is  shaped  in 


ATHENS.  527 

the  hill-side  like  the  other.     It  once  probably  had  a 
roof;  but  if  so,  it  is  all  gone. 

This  south  side  of  the  hill  has  been  much  encum- 
bered by  modern  and  mediaeval  defensive  structures 
and  debris,  which  the  Archaeological  Society  are 
removing.  They  have  laid  bare  the  marble  ruins  of 
a  Temple  of  Esculapius  within  the  past  year.  Half- 
way up,  just  at  the  base  of  the  perpendicular  part, 
stand  two  elegant  columns,  said  to  be  a  choragic 
monument. 

On  the  other  sides  there  are  no  ruins  of  any  mo- 
ment; but  some  grottoes  have  a  mythological  his- 
tory upon  which  I  cannot  enter. 

Now  let  us  imagine  ourselves  down,  in  front  of  the 
hill  on  the  west  side.  The  view  is  encumbered  by  a 
mediaeval  wall,  erected  for  defensive  purposes.  It  is 
to  be  hoped  it  will  soon  be  taken  down.  Inside  of 
this  wall  we  have  first  a  steep  ascent  over  natural 
rock  which  brings  us  to  the  Propylaea.  This  was  a 
purely  ornamental  structure,  standing,  as  its  name 
suggests,  in  front  of  the  gate  through  which  the  pla- 
teau on  the  summit  was  reached. 

The  gateway  is  a  shade  over  sixty  feet  wide.  Re- 
member, this  gate  points  west,  and  was  the  only 
approach  to  the  summit.  Outside  of  the  gates,  one 
on  the  south  side  of  the  wide  gateway  and  the  other 
on  the  north,  are  two  wings,  like  porticoes,  fronting 
each  other.  The  side  of  the  front  of  each  is  a  row  of 
columns,  the  outside  and  the  ends  being  of  heavy 
wails.  At  the  western  extremity  of  the  wings  the 
sixty  feet  space  between  them  is  traversed  by  a  row 
of  Doric  pillars,  very  massive.  The  direction  of  this 
row  of  columns,  six  in  number,  is,  of  course,  north 


528  ATHENS. 

and  south.  The  two  central  columns — that  is,  the 
third  one  from  each  end — are  fourteen  feet  apart. 
Stand  between  these  two  and  look  eastward.  The 
great  gate,  with  two  smaller  ones  on  each  side  of  it, 
is  forty-five  feet  from  you,  and  the  way  to  it  has,  on 
each  side,  a  row  of  Ionic  pillars,  smaller  and  more 
slender  than  the  Doric  pillars  of  the  front  row.  Be- 
tween these  two  rows  the  way  to  the  gate  is  over  the 
native  rock;  but  on  the  right  hand,  along  the  front 
of  the  south  wing,  there  is  a  stone  stair-way.  Pass- 
ing through  the  gates  you  will  find  on  the  inside 
another  row  of  Doric  columns  running  north  and 
south. 

There  was  once  surrounding  these  columns  a  won- 
derful structure  of  frieze  and  gable,  metope  and 
pediment,  with  sculptures  of  gods  and  heroes  innu- 
merable. But  that  is  all  gone.  Even  the  upper  sec- 
tions of  some  of  the  columns  are  gone.  Ruin,  with 
her  work  half-done,  sits  enthroned  over  this  structure 
which  the  ancient  Greeks  considered  the  greatest 
triumph  of  their  unrivaled  architecture. 

Inside  of  the  gate  you  face  the  east.  In  front  and 
to  your  right,  near  the  south  edge  of  the  plateau, 
and  about  midway  of  it,  east  and  west,  stand  the 
ruins  of  the  Parthenon.  This  grandest  of  all  the 
Greek  temples  I  cannot  undertake  to  describe.  But 
this  I  must  say,  that  I  had  to  come  to  Greece,  and 
see  the  ruins  of  a  structure  erected  2,300  years  ago, 
to  understand  how  surpassingly  beautiful  the  expres- 
sion of  the  Doric,  the  plainest  of  all  the  styles  of  arch- 
itecture, might  become  under  the  hand  of  a  genius  of 
the  first  order.  One  such  creation  of  mingled  beauty 
and  grandeur,  massiveness  and  elegance,  is  sufficient 


ATHENS.  529 

to  secure  its  author  a  place  in  human  memory  to  the 
end  of  time. 

A  great  part  of  all  the  beauty  arises  out  of  a 
simple  rule.  Except  in  the  walls  of  the  cella,  which 
are  little  seen,  there,  are  no  straiglit  lines.  The  curve 
is  very  slight — so  slight  that  you  do  not  see  it  at 
first — but  it  is  there  in  stylobate,  column,  and  entab- 
lature, and  before  your  eye  detects  the  curvilinear 
form  you  have  been  charmed  by  the  expression 
which  results  from  it. 

The  fluted  columns,  for  instance,  do  not  taper 
toward  the  top  in  straight  lines,  but  in  lines  just 
slightly  curving.  The  combination  of  effects  from 
this  is  as  wonderful  as  the  various  impressions  made 
by  it  are  delightful.  In  one  column  by  itself  it 
would  not  amount  to  much,  but  where  many  columns 
are  seen  in  a  hundred  different  angles,  with  respect 
to  each  other,  the  effect  is  as  charming  as  it  is 
subtle.  And  like  the  beauties  of  nature,  you  need 
not  perceive  the  cause  in  order  to  enjoy  them, 
though  the  pleasure  is  enhanced  when  the  cause  is 
discovered.     The  building  is  243  feet  by  108. 

Sculpture  gave  the  finishing  touch,  and  the  entab- 
lature seemed  once  a  moving  scene  of  mythological 
reality.  But  little  of  that  remains  now.  Much  of  it 
is  effaced  by  time,  and  much  is,  with  the  Elgin 
Marbles,  in  the  British  Museum. 

In  this  temple  stood  the  Athene  Parthenos,  the 
grandest  work  of  Phidias.  This  image  of  Athene 
was  all  of  ivory  and  gold,  standing  forty-seven  feet 
high,  and  bearing  on  her  extended  left  hand  a  statue 
of  Victory,  six  and  a  half  feet  high. 

The  ruins   of  one  other  building  remain    on    the 


530  ATHENS. 

Acropolis,  the  Erecbtheum,  so  named  from  one  of 
the  demigods  of  the  Attic  mythology.  It,  too,  con- 
tained an  image  of  Athene,  who  was  the  tutelary 
divinity  of  the  Acropolis  and  the  city.  This  image 
was  called  the  Athene  Polias,  and  was  the  oldest,  one 
of  the  goddess  in  possession  of  the  Athenians.  This 
was  a  very  beautiful  little  temple.  One  of  the 
porticoes  had  its  roof  supported  not  by  columns,  but 
by  female  figures  very  elegantly  designed.  One  of 
them  is  among  the  Elgin  Marbles,  having  been 
replaced  by  an  imitation  in  terra  cotta. 

In  an  open  space  on  the  Acropolis  you  see  the 
square  on  which  the  Athene  Promachus  stood. 
That  was  a  statue  of  Athene  80  feet  high.  The 
Athenian  sailor  saw  the  crest  of  her  helmet  and  the 
gilded  point  of  her  spear  far  out  at  sea. 

There  were  other  images,  and  at  least  one  other 
temple,  on  the  Acropolis;  but  they  have  disappeared. 
Only  the  shattered  ruins  of  the  Propylaea,  Parthenon, 
and  the  Erechtheum,  with  fragments  of  columns,  and 
pieces  of  broken  frieze  and  triglyph,  remain.  It  was 
once  populous  with  gods  made  with  men's  hands,  in 
temples  made  with  men's  hands. 

Ah!  it  was  just  over  there  on  Mars'  Hill — the 
Areopagus — that  St.  Paul  preached  that  sermon. 
He  saw  the  columns  of  the  Propysea  and  the  gleam- 
ing spear-point,  probably,  of  the  Athene  Promachus. 
The  Agora,  lying  in  full  view  below,  was  studded 
with  statues  of  gods  and  men,  and  full  of  shrines. 
The  Acropolis  was  covered  with  "temples  made  with 
men's  hands,"  and  devotees  were  constantly  coming 
with  offerings  in  their  hands.  The  beautiful  Temple 
of  Theseus  was  in  full  view.     There  was  not,  per- 


ATHENS.  531 

haps,  in  all  the  world,  another  spot  where  idolatry- 
made  such  a  display.  What  the  preacher  saw  fur- 
nished fuel  for  his  eloquence.  I  never  in  all  my  life 
so  enjoyed  the  17th  chapter  of  Acts  as  I  have  in 
reading  it  here. 

The  present  condition  of  Greece  is  in  many 
respects  interesting  and  hopeful.  The  Government 
has  not  reached  a  condition  of  real  stability,  nor  is 
full  liberty  of  religion  granted  to  the  people.  The 
Greeks  are  not  aware  of  it,  but  they  were  so  long 
under  the  government  of  the  Turks  that  they  have 
retained  much  of  the  spirit  of  Turkish  barbarism. 
But  there  is  progress — which  there  is  not  among  the 
Turks — and  where  there  is  progress  there  is  hope. 

The  Greek  Church  seems  wholly  destitute  of  the 
life  of  religion.  I  am  convinced,  from  large  inquiry, 
that  the  people  know  absolutely  nothing  of  repent- 
ance, of  living  faith,  and  the  great  fact  of  the  new 
birth.     It  is  a  great  field  for  missionary  labor. 

There  is  as  yet,  however,  but  very  little  evangeli- 
cal work  done  here.  The  American  Episcopalians 
have  been  at  work  in  schools  ever  since  the  revolu- 
tion, and  have  done  much  to  stimulate  the  educa- 
tional impulse.  More  recently  the  American 
Woman's  Union  Mission  have  established  a  school, 
which,  on  account  of  its  thoroughly  evangelical  tone, 
has  met  with  a  good  deal  of  opposition.  The  offi- 
cials insist  on  having  the  image  of  the  Virgin  in  the 
school-rooms,  and  on  having  the  pupils  instructed  in 
the  catechism  of  the  Greek  Church,  and  by  a  priest 
of  the  Church.  But  the  ladies  are  inflexible  on  all 
these  points. 

The    Southern    Presbyterians    have  a   Mission  in 


532  ATHENS. 


Athens.  The  Superintendent  is  the  Rev.  George 
Leyburn,  of  Virginia,  who  has  been  here  only 
about  two  years.  The  Mission  also  employs  Dr. 
Kallopothakes,  a  native  Greek.  There  is  a  Church 
of  not  more  than  twenty  members  worshiping  under 
the  shadow  of  the  Acropolis. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Sekellarios,  a  Greek  and  a  Baptist, 
labors  here  also,  and  has  baptized  a  few  persons,  but 
has,  I  believe,  no  organized  Church.  So  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Constantine,  a  native  of  Athens,  a  Congrega- 
tionalism labors  regularly,  and  has  a  few  converts, 
but  has  not  organized  a  Church.  He  has  published 
a  Commentary  on  the  Gospels,  of  which  he  is  now 
bringing  out  a  second  edition.  This  is  the  first  Com- 
mentary in  modern  Greek.  There  is  also  a  good 
deal  done  in  the  way  of  circulating  the  Scriptures. 
I  believe  I  have  now  mentioned  about  all  the  evan- 
gelical agencies  at  work  in  Greece.  The  Presby- 
terian Mission  has  an  interesting  and  suggestive  his- 
tory, but  I  have  not  space  to  give  it. 

Our  stay  in  Athens  was  prolonged  by  the  illness 
of  Mr.  Hendrix  ;  but  the  excellent  Christian  people 
of  the  city,  particularly  those  from  America,  sur- 
rounded him  with  such  cordial  attentions  as  to  give 
his  room  a  cheerful  aspect. 

Imagine  our  gratification  in  finding  two  Methodist 
ladies  here  from  Missouri.  One,  Mrs.  Fluhart,  is  in 
charge  of  the  Woman's  Mission  School — and  her 
sister,  Miss  Thatcher,  is  here  studying  modern 
languages.  Mrs.  Fluhart  is  a  member  of  the  Church 
at  Columbia,  and  Miss  Thatcher  at  Mexico,  Mo. 

We  left  the  Piraeus  in  a  storm  of  rain  ;  but  as  we 
steamed   out  a  gleam   of  sunshine  broke   upon  the 


ITALY.  533 

Straits  of  Salamis.  Does  this  presage  another  epoch 
of  splendor  for  the  Greeks,  delivered  now  again 
from  Oriental  barbarism  ? 


I 


< 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

ITALY. 

EAVIXG  Athens,  we  embarked  in  the  steamer 
Cariddi,  and  in  about  forty  hours  landed  at 
Corfu,  the  principal  town  in  the  Island  of  Corfu, 
in  the  upper  part  of  the  Ionian  Sea.  It  is  an  out- 
lying possession  of  the  Kingdom  of  Greece.  There 
is  a  population  of  50,000  in  the  Island,  one-half  of 
which  is  in  the  city.  Our  ship  lay  at  anchor  here 
long  enough  for  us  to  see  the  town,  which  is  well 
built  and  has  a  decided  air  of  prosperity,  and  also  to 
take  a  drive  of  several  miles  into  the  countrv.  The 
scenery  is  beautiful  near  the  city,  and  the  verdure 
contrasts  well  with  the  barren  appearance  of  the 
mountains  in  the  distance.  The  Queen  has  a  sum- 
mer palace  here,  with  large  grounds,  through  which 
Ave  walked.  The  soil  is  very  rich,  and  some  of  the 
views,  including  the  bay  and  the  Mountains  of  Alba- 
nia, were  very  fine. 

In   the   city  we   visited    the   palace   of  the   King, 


534  ITALY. 

which   is   not  very  royally  furnished.     His    Majesty 
usually  spends  a  few  weeks  in  midsummer  here. 

At  four  o'clock  we  weighed  anchor  and  steamed 
down  the  narrow  channel  which  separates  the  Island 
of  Corfu  from  Albania,  and  found  that  wTe  had  re- 
ceived  a  large  accession  to  our  list  of  passengers, 
among  whom  was  an  Italian  comedy  troupe.  They 
were  a  motley,  jolly  set  of  men,  women  and  children 
— sprightly,  good  humored,  noisy,  and  addicted  to 
card-playing.  The  women  were  forward,  and  the 
children  rude.  They  made  things  lively  on  the 
promenade  deck. 

Among  our  passengers  was  a  correspondent  of  the 
London  Times,  who  had  incurred  the  displeasure  of 
the  Sublime  Porte  by  the  too  great  candor  of  his 
letters  from  Constantinople  on  the  subject  of  the 
Turkish  atrocities.  He  had  found  it  necessary  to 
leave  the  country.  We  had  also  an  English  million- 
aire, who  had  been  on  a  bootless  errand  to  Constan- 
tinople. English  capitalists  hold  Turkish  bonds  to 
the  amount  of  near  $1,000,000,000,  on  which  they 
have  received  no  interest  for  more  than  three  years, 
and  the  war  makes  it  likely  that  they  will  lose  the 
whole  amount,  principal  and  interest.  These  capi- 
talists form  the  nucleus  of  the  anti-Russian  party  in 
England.  One  other  passenger  attracted  our  atten- 
tion, not  by  his  merit,  but  by  his  officiousness.  He 
was  an  American — a  strolling  gambler,  I  imagine. 
He  volunteered  to  inform  us  that  he  had  been  trav- 
eling for  many  years,  had  no  object  in  life  beyond 
his  dinner,  could  see  nothing  to  live  for,  and  was 
unhappy — unhappy.     When    I    suggested    that    the 


ITALY.  535 

catechism   gives   a   noble   end   of  life,  he   began    to 
swear,  and  I  cast  no  more  pearls  before  him. 

We  were  delayed  by  a  fog  several  hours,  so  that 
we  did  not  land  at  Brindisi  until  noon  the  next  day. 
This  is  the  old  Brindusium,  and  was  the  southern 
terminus  of  the  Appian  Way.  The  harbor  is  small 
but  very  deep,  and  we  landed  at  the  wharf.  Getting 
our  baggage  through  the  Custom  House  without 
difficulty,  we  were  soon  off  by  rail  for  Naples.  At 
last  we  were  m  Italy — beautiful  Italy. 

Until  night-fall  we  were  in  a  very  fertile  region, 
and  I  was  happily  disappointed  by  the  appearance 
of  good  farming,  industry  and  thrift  among  the 
people. 

For  the  first  time  since  we  sailed  from  San  Fran- 
cisco we  were  in  the  midst  of  rural  life.  Why  do 
the  farmers  in  Asia  all  live  in  villages?  Is  it  for 
protection  ?  If  so,  is  it  not  Christianity  that  renders 
life  more  secure  in  Europe  and  America?  Unques- 
tionably the  Christian  civilization  is  of  a  higher  order 
-than  any  other  in  the  world.  Even  in  those  regions 
where  the  Church  is  most  corrupt  this  is  apparent. 

In  the  night  we  crossed  the  mountains  between 
Foggia  and  Naples,  and  were  at  the  village  of 
Caserta  early  in  the  morning.  Here  is  an  old  palace 
of  the  Kings  of  Naples.  The  grounds  and  avenues 
are  still  very  fine.  From  this  point  to  Naples  the 
road  passes  through  a  most  charming  region.  It  is 
perfectly  level  and  the  soil  is  as  rich  as  the  best  bot- 
tom lands  of  America.  Rows  of  Lombardy  Poplar 
stand  in  the  cultivated  fields,  covered  with  grape- 
vines which  are  trained  across  from  tree  to  tree  at  a 


536  ITALY. 

height  often  or  fifteen  feet.     The  wheat,  oats,  hemp, 
flax,  corn  and  other  crops  are  luxurious. 

As  we  approached  the  city,  Mount  Vesuvius  came 
into  full  view,  with  its  great  volume  of  smoke  rising 
slowly  and  bending  off  southward  before  a  gentle 
wind.  It  was  the  first  active  volcano  I  had  ever 
seen,  and  I  confess  to  a  feeling  of  awe  in  the 
presence  of  it. 

At  Naples  we  visited  some  few  churches,  the 
museum  and  the  public  cemetery.  This  cemetery 
is  a  square  yard  surrounded  by  a  high  wall,  and 
paved  with  dressed  stone.  Under  the  pavement 
there  are  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  pits.  One  is 
opened  every  day  and  the  dead  of  the  last  twenty- 
four  hours  are  dropped  into  it.  It  is  then  closed  by 
replacing  the  stone  and  filling  the  cracks  around  it 
with  cement,  so  as  to  make  it  air-tight.  With  the 
bodies  a  quantity  of  fresh  lime  is  thrown  in.  We 
saw  two  bodies  in  the  receptacles  prepared  for  them, 
awaiting  their  turn. 

But  the  great  object  in  visiting  Naples  is  to  see 
Pompeii,  some  eight  or  ten  miles  from  the  city. 

The  houses  are  not  generally  in  so  perfect  a  state 
as  I  had  supposed,  but  still  it  is  wonderful.  Some 
of  the  walls  and  columns  are  well  preserved,  and  all 
of  the  pavements  are  perfect.  Even  the  fresco  on 
the  wails,  in  some  instances,  is  quite  distinct.  Only 
a  little  imagination  is  requisite  to  enable  you  to  see 
just  how  the  people  lived  so  many  centuries  ago. 
You  see  the  dwelling  houses,  with  parlor,  dining- 
room,  bed-room,  servants'  rooms  and  kitchen. 
Some  of  these  were  very  elegant.  They  had  water 
works  and  hydrants.     Some  of  the  lead  water  pipes 


ITALY. 


537 


are  still  in  place.  We  saw  the  old  jars  still  standing 
in  the  wine  shops,  as  well  as  a  baker's  shop  where 
loaves  of  bread  were  found  in  the  large  brick  oven, 
with  the   stable  where   the  skeleton  of  the  baker's 


RUINS    OF    POMPEII. 


horse  was  found.  We  also  visited  the  house  of  a 
great  wine  merchant,  with  immense  cellars,  a  hun- 
dred yards  long,  I  should  think,  in  one  of  which  the 
bodies  of  several  women  were  found,  probably  the 
wife  and  daughters  who  had  fled  to  the  cellar  in 
their  fright. 


538 


ITALY. 


In  a  museum  we  saw  many  things  exhumed  in  the 
excavations.  Two  of  the  petrified  bodies  are  well 
represented  in  the  accompanying  cut.     Many  cook- 


PETRIFIED  BODIES  IN  POMPEII. 


ing  utensils,  some  eggs  and  a  great  variety  of  arti- 
cles, are  preserved  in  the  Museum.  We  saw,  also,  a 
dog  well  preserved  and  in  an  attitude  expressive  of 
the  sudden  and  dreadful  death  that  overtook  him. 

This  city  was  destroyed  in  A.  D.  79,  by  a  shower 
of  loose  stones,  ashes  and  mud  ejected  by  Mount 
Vesuvius.  The  dreadful  volcanic  storm  raged  for 
more  than  a  week,  and  the  city  was  completely 
covered  to  such  a  depth  as  concealed  it  entirely. 
About  the  middle  of  the  last  century  the  excavations 
were  commenced  which  have  been  prosecuted  from 
time    to    time    until    the  greater  part  of  the  city  has 


ITALY.  539 

been  brought  to  light.  Among  other  things  there 
are  evidences  of  a  degraded  moral  and  social  life 
too  gross  to  be  described. 

The  ascent  of  Mount  Vesuvius  is  difficult,  the 
cone  being  very  steep  and  covered  with  volcanic 
ashes,  into  which  the  feet  sink  deep  at  every  step.  A 
practicable  path,  however,  has  been  found.  Reach- 
ing the  edge  of  the  yawning  crater  I  caught  at  once 
the  fumes  of  the  sulphureous  gases  which  are  perpet- 
ually ascending.  A  man  appeared  with  a  basket  of 
eggs  and  proposed  to  roast  me  some  in  the  hot 
ashes.  It  required  but  a  few  minutes.  My  guide 
put  a  piece  of  a  newspaper  on  the  end  of  a  stick  and 
thrust  it  a  few  feet  into  a  fissure  in  the  rock,  when  it 
took  fire  and  burned  up  in  the  blaze.  I  could  see 
but  a  little  way  down  into  the  crater  for  the  smoke, 
but  the  roar  of  the  fire  waves  was  like  the  sound  of 
the  waves  of  the  sea  breaking  upon  the  shore.  It 
was  sublime  ! 

On  Sunday  there  was  a  military  parade  in  honor 
of  the  Anniversary  of  the  Constitution.  Work  on 
the  streets  went  on  the  same  as  on  other  days.  I 
attended  service  at  the  Wesleyan  Chapel,  and  heard 
a  sermon  in  English  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jones,  the 
Superintendent  of  Wesleyan  Missions,  in  Southern 
Italy.  He  has  a  good  many  schools,  several  native 
preachers  at  work ;  has  preaching  stations  in  sixteen 
towns  and  cities,  with  four  hundred  and  seventy 
church  members,  and  one  hundred  and  sixteen  on 
probation.  The  priests  do  all  that  is  in  their  power 
to  oppose  the  work,  and  the  converts  generally 
become  outcasts  among  their  friends.  Many  who  are 
convinced  of  the  truth  refuse  to  make  an  open  con- 


540  ITALY. 

fession  on  account  of  the  opprobrium  that  would  fol- 
low. They  believe  secretly  but  are  in  fear  of  the 
Pharisees. 

Among  the  converts  much  has  to  be  done  in  the 
way  of  instruction,  they  are  so  entirely  ignorant  of 
the  scriptures.  All  they  know  is  about  Masses  and 
Mary,  confession  and  absolution,  Lent  and  Easter, 
and  Saints'  days,  and  so  forth.  They  need  the  gospel 
here  almost  as  much  as  the  heathen.  The  people 
who  have  been  exclusively  under  the  tuition  of  the 
Church  of  Rome  know  nothing  of  the  "  Truth  as  it  is 
in  Jesus." 

From  Naples  to  Rome  is  only  half  a  day  by  rail. 
The  country  is  very  pretty,  but  not  so  productive  as 
you  get  on  toward  Rome.  The  towns  have  an  older 
look — in  fact  many  of  them  appear  rather  dilapi- 
dated. 

For  an  hour  or  more  after  I  left  Naples  I  had 
Vesuvius  and  its  smoke  in  full  sight.  I  could  not 
look  without  emotion  upon  this  cyclopean  smoke- 
stack— this  vent  for  subterranean  fires  that  have 
been  burning  ever  since  the  world  was  made — fires 
that  come  from  sources  no  one  knows  how  deep. 

Approaching  Rome  I  looked  out  and  saw  a  great 
dome  standing  out  against  the  sky  by  itself.  There 
could  be  no  mistake,  it  was  the  dome  of  St.  Peters. 
We  had  emerged  from  the  mountains  and  were  in 
the  Campagna.  Those  old  arches  on  the  left  are  the 
remains  of  aqueducts  by  which  water  was  conducted 
from  the  mountains  to  Imperial  Rome.  They  are  of 
brick  and  it  is  wonderful  how  much  of  them  remains, 
and  how  perfect  they  are,  in  places. 


ITALY.  541 

We  had  delightful  quarters  at  Rome  in  the  Cos- 
tanze,  one  of  the  most  elegant  Hotels  in  Europe. 

The  first  place  we  visited  was  the  Catacombs. 
They  are  narrow,  subterranean  avenues  cut  in  tufa, 
which  is  a  soft  volcanic  rock  that  underlies  much  of 
the  country  hereabouts.  In  the  walls  of  the  avenues 
are  niches  cut  for  the  bodies  of  the  dead.  Each 
niche  is  just  large  enough  for  one  body.  These  cata- 
combs are  very  extensive,  the  avenues  crossing  each 
other  at  different  angles.  I  doubt  much  if  they  were 
ever  used  as  a  retreat  for  the  living,  as  some  say, 
though  they  might  have  served  as  a  place  of  tempo- 
rary concealment  in  times  of  great  persecution. 

The  slabs  that  closed  the  niches  in  which  the  dead 
lay  in  the  catacombs,  had  very  brief  inscriptions  on 
them,  with  some  simple  figure,  as  a  bird  or  fish,  very 
rudely  carved.  At  a  later  day  the  more  wealthy 
were  deposited  in  sarcophagi,  which  were  covered 
with  elaborate  carvings,  representing  subjects  taken 
from  the  Bible.  A  great  deal  of  this  early  Christian 
sculpture  is  to  be  found  in  a  museum  connected  with 
the  Church  of  St.  John  Lateran. 

In  all  the  cities  of  Italy  there  are  museums  and 
art  galleries,  containing  countless  specimens  of  art, 
both  in  painting  and  sculpture,  both  ancient  and 
modern.  I  was  greatly  interested  in  ancient  sculp- 
ture. Much  of  it  represents  mythological  subjects, 
but  there  are  a  great  many  statues  which  are  like- 
nesses of  the  persons  they  represent.  Thus  from 
remote  ages  there  have  been  preserved  to  us  the 
likenesses  of  emperors,  philosophers,  poets,  and 
orators.  There  are  Cicero,  Terrentius,  Homer,  Plato, 
Cato,  the   two    Brutuses,   Cato    the    censor,    and    a 


542  ITALY. 

multitude  more.  By  the  way,  I  think  Cato  the 
censor  is  the  crossest  looking  man  I  ever  saw.  But 
Socrates  really  amused  me.  \  ou  ought  to  see  his 
nose!  especially  the  lower  end  of  it.  It  flares  out 
and  turns  up,  and  is  in  what  I  should  call  the  exag- 
gerated pug  style.  There  are  several  busts  of  him, 
and  they  are  all  much  alike,  being,  no  doubt,  excel- 
lent likenesses. 

There  are  several  statues  of  Julius  and  Augustus 
Csesar,  correct  likenesses,  I  imagine.  Titus,  Vespa- 
sian, Nero,  Trajan,  Adrian,  and  many  Emperors,  are 
represented,  and  the  wives  and  daughters  of  several. 
Several  of  these  marble  likenesses  of  women  show 
remarkably  fine  faces,  intellectual  and  beautiful.  I 
was  quite  struck  with  the  various  ways  they  had  of 
dressing  their  hair.  Some  had  it  heaped  up  in  a 
mass  of  curls  on  the  top  of  their  heads,  for  all  the 
world  like  some  finiky  women  I  have  known.  Some 
had  rows  of  curls  running  along  the  side  of  the  head 
from  the  temples  back,  some  had  the  hair  parted  in 
the  middle  of  the  head,  combed  neatly  back  and 
done  up  behind,  and  some  had  one  or  two  long  curls 
hanging  down  the  back  of  the  neck  or  drawn  for- 
ward over  the  shoulder.  One  or  two  had  a  fringe  of 
frizzed  hair  just  over  the  forehead,  the  rest  being 
smooth. 

Many  interesting  objects  have  been  brought  to 
light  by  recent  excavations,  such  as  palaces,  imperial 
baths,  and  old  walls  that  date  back  to  the  time  of 
the  Republic,  and  even  earlier.  Of  course  only  frag- 
ments of  the  old  buildings  remain.  There  is  one 
building,  indeed,  in  a  pretty  good  state  of  preserva- 
tion, that  has  come  down  from  the  time  of  the  kings. 


ITALY.  543 

It  was  built  by  a  lucky  man  who,  from  the  lowest 
condition,  became  a  king  of  Rome.  He  built  a 
Tempie  and  dedicated  it  to  the  God  of  Fortune  or 
Luck,  and,  truth  to  tell,  it  has  been  a  lucky  edifice, 
for  it  has  survived  all  the  structures  of  its  own  and 
even  of  much  later  times.  It  has  often  been  re- 
paired, but  the  old  plan  remains,  and  a  good  deal  of 
the  old  material. 

Near  the  Forum  is  the  old  Mamartine  prison,  a 
most  gloomy  place,  consisting  of  two  underground 
rooms,  one  below  the  other,  with  massive  stone  wails, 
very  damp  and  dark.  The  lower  one  must  have 
been  always  underground.  They  have  a  tradition 
that  Peter  and  Paul  were  confined  here.  My  own 
conviction  is  that  Peter  was  never  at  Rome.  Paul, 
during  his  first  imprisonment,  occupied  his  own  hired 
house.  Of  his  second  imprisonment  we  have  no  ac- 
count in  Scripture,  but  it  is  certain  that  he  was  con- 
demned and  executed  at  that  time,  and  it  is  therefore 
not  unlikely  that  he  suffered  imprisonment  in  this 
repulsive  dungeon. 

The  custode  showed  us  the  column  the  apostles 
were  bound  to,  and  an  indentation  made  in  the 
solid  rock  by  Peter's  head  as  he  ascended  fiom  the 
lower  to  the  upper  apartment ! 

The  old  Forum  has  been  laid  bare  by  recent 
excavations,  in  a  low,  flat  piece  of  ground  between 
the  Palatine  and  Capitoline  hills.  Here  were  the 
popular  assemblages  of  the  citizens.  Here  Cicero 
used  to  thunder  out  his  grand  orations.  Here  Julius 
Caesar  fell,  and  here  his  body  was  exposed  to  the 
public  view  with  its  ghastly  wounds  and  in  its  bloody 
mantle,  and  here  the  funeral  oration  was  delivered 


544  ITALY. 

over  it  by  Mark  Antony,  which  so  excited  the 
populace  that  they  gave  it  instant  cremation  in  the 
very  Forum — an  honor  accorded  to  none  other. 
The  Via  Sacra  passed  through  the  Forum.  Some 
pavements  and  fragments  of  Temples  remain  here. 
The  site  of  the  Rostrum  is  pointed  out,  and  some 
old  statuary  remains  in  situ.  Like  the  Pnyx  and 
Areopagus  at  Athens,  the  Forum  was  in  the  open 
air. 

St.  Peter's  is  grand,  yet  I  was  disappointed  in  it. 
[n  the  interior  the  effect  is  destroyed  by  the  number 
of  massive  columns,  and  no  good  outside  view  can 
be  had  for  the  buildings  which  surround  it,  except  in 
front.  The  dome  is  grand,  and  the  circular  colon- 
nade and  fountains  in  front  are  much  admired. 

The  Vatican  is  an  oblong  square  of  corridors  sur- 
rounding an  open  court.  At  one  corner  of  it  is  the 
Cistine  chapel,  famous  for  the  frescoes  of  Michael 
Angelo,  one  of  which,  covering  an  entire  end  wall,  is 
the  Last  Judgment,  considered  a  wonder  of  art. 
But  it  is  now  a  good  deal  faded,  and  is  seen  in  a 
poor  light.  The  artist  had  a  personal  enemy  whose 
likeness  he  painted  in  this  picture  in  hell,  with  a 
snake  coiled  around  him.  The  man  applied  to 
the  Pope  to  make  Angelo  erase  it.  His  Holiness 
replied  that  if  he  had  been  put  in  Purgatory  he 
could  get  him  out,  but  that  over  the  other  place  he 
had  no  jurisdiction.  Angelo,  hearing  of  this,  gave 
the  head  a  pair  of  donkey's  ears,  and  there  it  is, 
ears  and  all,  to  this  day. 

We  were  in  Rome  at  the  time  of  the  Pope's 
Jubilee — the  celebration  of  the  fiftieth  year  of  his 
Episcopal  life.     The  presents  sent  to  him   from  all 


ITALY.  54$ 

over  the  world  were  displayed  in  the  Vatican.  Such. 
an  array  of  finery  and  gewgaws  I  never  dreamed  of. 
Silk  and  satin  things,  with  brocade  work  and  gold 
fringe,  and  I  do  not  know  what  all.  I  saw  two  well- 
fed  priests  eyeing  a  great  stack  of  wine  bottles, 
while  their  eyes  fairly  sparkled  at  the  thought  of  so 
much  good  drinking.  No  wonder  that  a  Pope 
should  have  the  gout  if  he  has  to  drink  all  the  fine 
wines  that  are  sent  to  him. 

There  is  a  flight  of  stone  steps  in  a  church  here^ 
said  to  have  been  brought  from  Jerusalem,  and  to  be 
the  same  that  v/as  in  Pilate's  Judgment  Hall.  It  is 
considered  a  work  of  great  merit  to  ascend  them  on 
one's  knees.  I  went  to  see  it,  not  from  any  faith  in 
the  tradition,  but  because  it  was  on  these  steps,  as? 
Luther  was  on  his  knees,  that  that  text  which  in  his 
mind  became  the  germ  of  the  Reformation,  was 
thundered  upon  his  ears,  "  The  just  shall  live  by- 
faith." 

Our  stay  in  Rome  was  full  of  sight-seeing,  but  of 
the  Tiber,  of  the  Seven  Hills,  of  all  the  churches 
and  monasteries,  and  the  many  things,  old  and  new, 
that  I  saw,  I  can  say  but  little.  When  I  was  wan- 
dering about  among  the  ruins  of  the  palaces  on  the 
Palatine  Hill,  and  thought  how  the  world  was  once 
ruled  from  this  point,  and  how  the  wealth  of  the 
world  was  once  concentrated  here,  and  yet  how  all 
had  passed  away,  I  felt  more  deeply  than  ever 
before  how  chaffy  is  all  the  glory  of  this  world.  A 
short  ride  on  the  Appian  Way  brought  us  into  the 
vicinity  of  some  remarkable  old  tombs,  the  most 
remarkable  one,  like  the  Taj  at  Agra,  was  erected 
to  his   wife  by  a  bereaved  husband.     But  the  most 

18 


546  ITALY. 

imposing  of  all  ruins  at  Rome  is  the  Coliseum,  which 
has  been  so  frequently  described  that  I  will  not 
attempt  it.  There  are  also  some  triumphal  arches 
that  are  quite  imposing.  That  of  Titus  still  bears  the 
figures  in  relief  which  represent  the  captives 
brought  from  Judea  by  the  conqueror. 

We  called  on  Dr.  Vernon,  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
before  we  left.  He  has  a  neat  house  of  worship  in 
the  heart  of  the  city,  and  the  Wesleyans  have 
recently  finished  quite  a  large  one.  The  progress  of 
the  work  of  God  is  slow  here,  but  there  is  progress. 
Evangelical  congregations  are  small  everywhere,  and 
great  patience  and  perseverance  will  be  required  to 
insure  success. 

From  Rome  we  went  to  Florence.  This  was  the 
native  city  of  Michael  Angelo — painter,  sculptor, 
architect.  In  all  these  arts  he  was  the  great  master 
of  modern  times,  nor  was  he  contemptible  as  a  poet. 
What  a  many-sided  man !  He  also  took  an  active 
interest  in  public  affairs,  and  was  the  most  influential 
man  of  his  day. 

Italy  is  full  of  art,  and  Florence  is  the  heart  of  it 
in  this  respect.  Foreign  artists  come  here  to  perfect 
themselves,  and  live  and  die  here.  Here  is  Powers' 
studio,  and  his  sons  still  keep  his  name  fresh  among 
artists.  Here  we  expected  to  see  Hart,  renowned 
even  in  Italy,  whose  name  is  dear  to  many  people  in 
the  Mississippi  Valley.  Sending  in  our  card  at  his 
studio,  we  were  admitted  by  a  polite  attendant  who 
showed  us  some  of  his  most  remarkable  pieces.  We 
gave  him  to  understand  that  we  desired  to  see  Mr. 
Hart  himself.     A  cloud  came  upon  his  countenance, 


ITALY.  547 

and  he  answered  us  with  a  single  word,  "Mort" — he 
is  dead. 

There  are  a  good  many  elegant  churches  here, 
but  the  most  unique  of  all  the  works  of  art  I  have 
seen  are  the  bronze  doors  of  the  Baptista.  Mr. 
Ruskin  had  photographs  of  them  made — so  I  was 
told.  Of  one  of  them  Michael  Angelo  said  it  was 
beautiful  enough  to  be  the  gate  of  Paradise. 

I  have  spent  a  good  deal  of  time  in  various  art 
galleries  in  Italy,  and  have  enjoyed  it  more  than  I 
expected.  I  do  not  understand  art  sufficiently  to 
write  about  it,  nor  even  to  account  to  myself  very 
intelligently  for  the  interest  I  feel  in  it,  but  certainly 
some  pieces  that  have  come  down  from  classical 
times,  as  well  as  the  creations  of  the  most  distin- 
guished men  of  a  later  day,  do  attract  me  wonder- 
fully. But  I  cannot  reconcile  myself  to  the  evident 
want  of  modesty  in  many  of  the  most  celebrated 
works.  Many  statues  of  Venus  and  Apollo  are 
objectionable  on  moral  grounds,  and  this  is  especially 
true  of  those  which  have  the  greatest  merit  as  works 
of  art. 

One  of  the  grandest  things  in  Italy  is  a  "  Moses," 
by  Michael  Angelo.  It  is  in  the  church  of  St. 
Pedro,  in  Vincoli.  It  is  in  a  sitting  posture,  the 
body  a  little  drooped,  as  you  have  seen  a  man  in 
deep  reverie,  the  face  full  of  expression,  the  very  eye 
looking  as  if  it  were  alive,  though  it  is  mere  cold 
stone,  and  the  whole  aspect  such  as  you  might  well 
imagine  the  old  law-giver  to  be  in  just  after  he  had 
received  the  two  tables  of  the  law.  These  tables  he 
has,  and  the  right  arm  is  resting  upon  them.     As  in 


548  ITALY. 

the   Mediaeval    representations   of   Moses    there    are 
short  horns  on  his  head. 

Many  of  the  most  celebrated  paintings  in  Italy  are 
frescoes,  as  the  Last  Judgment,  already  mentioned, 
the  Transfiguration,  by  Raphael,  and  the  Last  Supper 
at  Milan.  These  all  have  a  world-wide  celebrity, 
and  have  been  reproduced  in  innumerable  copies. 

There  are  many  pieces  by  Michael  Angelo  unfin- 
ished, though  he  died  at  an  advanced  age.  Unfin- 
ished!  Does  any  man  accomplish  all  his  expecta- 
tions? Does  not  every  one  die  in  the  midst  of 
unrealized  ideals  ? 

There  is  a  Museum  at  Florence  that  is  devoted  to 
scientific  subjects,  in  which  there  is  by  far  the  most 
extensive  collection  of  specimens  I  ever  saw — quad- 
rupeds, birds,  fishes,  reptiles,  insects,  worms,  bugs — 
every  thing  imaginable.  There  were  some  species 
and  many  varieties  entirely  new  to  me.  The  variety 
of  anatomical  subjects  illustrated  in  wax,  represent- 
ing both  normal  and  abnormal  conditions  of  the 
various  organs  of  the  human  body,  is  surprising,  as 
is  also  the  artistic  perfection  of  the  work. 

But  one  small  room  in  this  Museum  interested  us 
more  than  all  the  rest — a  room  devoted  to  the  mem- 
ory of  Galileo,  who  was  a  native  of  Florence.  It 
contains  a  portrait  of  him  when,  a  lad  of  eighteen 
years,  being  in  the  Cathedral  of  Pisa,  he  playfully 
swung  the  massive  chandelier  which  was  suspended 
from  the  ceiling,  and  watching  its  vibrations,  took 
the  suggestion  of  the  law  which  governs  the  motions 
of  the  pendulum.  From  this  discovery  he  went  on 
until  he  demonstrated  those  great  cosmical  laws 
which    appear    in    the    movements   of  the    heavenly 


ITALY.  549 

bodies,  and  that  the  earth  does  move  in  spite  of  the 
Jesuits  and  the  Inquisition.  Then  there  are  portraits 
of  him  at  various  stages  of  his  career,  besides  some 
symbolical  frescoes  on  the  walls.  I  wished  that 
President  Wills  and  Prof.  Pritchett  had  been  in  my 
place  to  examine  the  old  scientific  apparatus  of  the 
great  astronomer,  which  they  would  have  understood, 
but  I  did  not. 

Florence  takes  a  great  pride  in  honoring  thus  the 
greatest  of  her  scientific  names.  How  gladly  would 
the  Roman  Curia  blot  out  that  infallible  proceeding 
of  theirs  against  Galileo  and  the  Universe.  By  the 
way,  they  have  the  grace  to  keep  the  room  at  Rome 
which  has  the  frescoes  of  the  St.  Bartholomew  mas- ' 
sacres,  locked  against  the  public,  though  a  few  years 
ago  they  were  proud  to  display  it. 

On  my  birth-day  we  ran  down,  to  Pisa,  only  two 
hours  by  rail  from  Florence,  down  the  beautiful 
valley  of  the  Arno,  where  we  saw  the  celebrated 
Campo  Santo,  a  cemetery  made  in  earth  transported 
from  Palestine  in  the  Middle  Ages,  the  Cathedral 
where  Galileo's  lamp  still  hangs,  the  Baptista,  which 
is  as  remarkable  as  the  Taj  Mahal  for  its  echo,  and 
several  other  objects  of  interest.  I  celebrated  the 
fifty-fourth  anniversary  of  my  birth  by  climbing  the 
celebrated  Leaning  Tower.  From  the  summit  of 
this  wonderful  campanile  we  had  a  fine  view  of  the 
surrounding  plain  and  the  distant  mountains,  and 
got  a  glimpse  of  the  Mediterranean. 

We  returned  to  Florence  by  night-fall  and  the  fol- 
lowing morning  started  by  rail  for  Venice,  crossing 
the  Appennine  Range  on  the  way.  Tunnels  are  as 
plentiful    as    on    the    Baltimore    and  Ohio  Railroad 


550  ITALY. 

between  Parkersburg  and  Grafton.  Entering  the 
great  valley  of  the  Po,  we  approached  the  city  of 
Bologna,  where  we  laid  over  for  a  few  hours.  In  a 
great  part  of  the  city  the  upper  stories  of  the  houses 
project  over  the  sidewalks,  completely  shading  them 
— a  great  relief  on  this  hot  day.  We  visited  the 
Campo  Santo,  which  is  unique  and  in  the  style  of 
that     at  Pisa,  but  much  more  elegant  and  extensive. 

The  art  gallery  here  contains  the  celebrated  paint- 
ing of  the  Crucifixion,  by  Guido.  He  had  a  man 
tied  to  a  cross  to  serve  as  a  model.  When  the 
picture  was  near  completion  he  was  not  satisfied  with 
the  expression  of  agony  in  the  face,  whereupon  he 
seized  a  dagger,  stabbed  his  model  to  the  heart, 
transferred  the  dying  expression  of  his  victim  to  the 
canvas,  and  then,  visited  by  remorse,  or  fear  of  the 
gallows,  locked  his  studio  and  fled  the  country. 
After  a  time  he  was  pardoned  and  permitted  to 
return,  and  men  excuse  the  artist  because  he  was  in 
a  frenzy.  I  admire  these  great  artists,  prodigiously, 
but  they  must  excuse  me  from  believing  in  any  such 
frenzy  as  an  excuse  for  crime.  Some  of  them  are 
flattered  for  their  genius  till  they  get  beside  them- 
selves with  vanity,  and  are  petted  till  they  are  no 
better  than  spoiled  children.  A  good  spanking 
would  mend  their  manners.  Most  of  them,  I  am 
glad  to  believe,  however,  are  very  sensible,  well 
balanced  men. 

The  lower  valley  of  the  Po  through  which  we 
passed  is  perfectly  level,  and  as  fruitful  as  the  val- 
ley land  near  Naples,  with  the  same  exuberance  of 
cereals  and  hemp,  the  fields  having  rows  of  small 
trees  running  through  them  and  festoons  of  grape- 


ITALY.  551 

vines  swinging  from  one  to  another.  Passing  Fer- 
rara,  we  crossed  the  Po,  the  great  river  of  Italy,  its 
valley  having  the  Alps  on  the  north  and  the  Appen- 
nines  on  the  south.  It  empties  its  waters  into  the 
Adriatic  some  miles  south  of  Venice.  Ages  ago 
levees  were  thrown  up  on  both  sides  of  it  to  protect 
the  wide  valley  from  overflow.  The  bed  of  the  river 
has  since  been  elevated  by  a  deposit  of  sediment 
until  it  is  said  that  now  the  bottom  of  the  river  is 
above  some  inhabited  portions  of  the  valley.  In 
this  state  of  things  an  overflow  must  produce  the 
most  wide-spread  ruin.  Nor  is  such  an  event  with- 
out precedent. 

Before  reaching  Padua  we  came  upon  a  spur  of 
the  Alps  jutting  far  down  into  the  valley,  and  before 
we  reached  Venice,  which  was  near  midnight,  we 
found  ourselves  in  the  midst  of  the  first  good,  honest 
thunderstorm  we  had  witnessed  since  we  left  home. 
Reaching  the  depot  on  the  bank  of  the  great  canal, 
we  made  a  rush  in  the  midst  of  a  crowd  of  passen- 
gers, for  a  gondola,  found  one  and  got  into  it  and 
under  cover  in  a  minute  cabin,  in  which  two  consti- 
tuted a  crowd,  and  which  was  so  low  that  our  heads 
touched  the  roof  when  we  were  seated.  We  were  in 
a  hurry,  but  our  gondolier  was  not.  To  our  urgency 
he  only  replied,  "fulmine,"  and  trotted  off,  we  knew 
not  where.  Fulmine — ah  !  yes,  true  enough  ;  all  the 
heavens  seemed  in  a  rage,  and  he  must  get  a  man  to 
help  him  with  his  little  boat  in  such  a  tempest. 

At  last  we  were  off,  at  the  outset  along  a  wide 
canal,  then  in  a  very  narrow  and  tortuous  one,  shoot- 
ing along  under  low  bridges,  and  then  coming  into  a 
wide  one  again,  when  we  were  soon  landed  on  the 


552  ITALY. 

steps  of  our  hotel  and  nearly   on   a  level  with  the 
floor. 

The  grand  canal  bisects  the  city,  and  on  each 
side  numerous  small  canals  take  the  place  of  streets, 
but  it  is  not  to  be  inferred  from  this  that  there  are 
no  streets.  In  fact,  there  are  a  good  many,  but  they 
are  narrow,  designed  only  for  pedestrians.  Boats 
take  the  place  of  carriages,  drays  and  wagons.  I 
did  not  see  a  horse  in  the  city,  to  every  part  of 
which  the  canals  penetrate. 

The  model  of  the  gondola  is  graceful,  but  it  is 
painted  black,  and  is  nothing  like  so  large  or  beau- 
tiful as  I  had  supposed.  The  "  gay  gondolier '  fell 
quite  below  my  standard.  In  fact  he  is  just  an 
ordinary  mortal,  much  like  a  hack  driver,  and  makes 
his  living  by  his  little  boat.  How  much  poetry  I 
have  been  cured  of  since  I  reached  this  city — the 
Queen  of  the  Adriatic.  H.  was  dreadfully  disap- 
pointed because  the  gondoliers  were  not  singing  all 
the  time.  He  had  even  more  poetry  than  I  to  be 
despoiled  of.  But  it  is  an  interesting  thing  to  see 
houses  rising  from  the  water's  edge,  and  to  be  riding 
about  everywhere  in  boats. 

From  the  summit  of  the  Campanile  we  had  a  fine 
view  of  the  whole  city  and  its  surroundings.  Of  the 
churches  and  the  bronze  horses  and  winged  lions 
I  need  not  write.  The  arsenal  contains  a  large  col- 
lection of  antique  weapons,  such  as  swords,  maces, 
spears,  battle  axes  and  rude  fire-arms.  I  was  sur- 
prised to  find  breech-loading  revolvers  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  that  were  fired  by  match-locks.  We 
saw  there  several  complete  suits  of  mail,  and — would 
you  believe  it? — the  helmet  of  Attila.    But  I  cannot 


ITALY.  553 

•enumerate.  However,  I  must  not  omit  to  mention 
the  collar,  the  thumb-screw,  and  many  other  horrible 
instruments  of  torture  invented  by  the  devil  and 
appropriated  by  the  inquisition. 

In  a  private  palace  which  is  open  to  visitors  at 
certain  times,  we  saw  the  last  and  greatest  work  of 
Canova;  his  Hector  and  Ajax.  I  gazed  at  them 
a  long  time,  more  fascinated  than  I  had  been  by  any 
human  work.  Each  answers  to  its  ideal  in  the 
attitude,  the  face,  the  form  of  the  limbs,  the  set  of 
the  head  and  in  the  expression  of  every  muscle  from 
head  to  foot.  I  doubt  if  Phidias  ever  did  any  thing 
better.  In  the  same  palace  are  profile  busts  in 
relief  of  Canova  and  Titian.  In  a  Museum  here  are 
some  of  the  master-pieces  of  Titian,  particularly 
"  The  Assumption  of  the  Virgin."  It  is  magnificent, 
but  like  so  many  of  the  pictures  in  Italy,  it  is  guilty 
of  the  profanity  of  attempting  to  represent  Almighty 
God  on  canvas.  We  saw  also  his  first  piece,  paint- 
ed when  he  was  a  boy — Mary's  visit  to  Elizabeth,  a 
beautiful  design — and  his  last,  an  unfinished  painting 
of  the  entombment  of  Christ. 

One  picture  I  saw  in  Venice  haunts  me  still — a 
representation  of  the  "  woman  that  was  a  sinner 
anointing  the  feet  of  Jesus."  Luke  vii :  36,  38. 
There  was  the  comfortable  and  self-righteous 
Pharisee,  looking  on  with  contempt,  a  guest  avoiding 
contact  with  the  woman,  the  beautiful  face  of  John, 
the  Lord  with  an  expression  of  mingled  majesty  and 
compassion,  having  his  hand  extended  toward  the 
woman,  and  most  striking  of  all,  the  kneeling  figure 
of  the  conscience-stricken  woman,  every  feature, 
every  line   of  whose   face   was    expressive  of  peni- 


554  ITALY. 

tential  agony.  The  features  were  not  distorted,  the 
expression  not  exaggerated  as  in  many  pieces  that 
undertake  to  represent  great  mental  agony,  but  the 
lines  were  drawn  just  as  I  have  seen  a  few  times  in 
my  life,  when  a  remorseful  sense  of  sin  seemed  to 
border  on  despair.  The  guide  books  do  not  men- 
tion this  work  with  any  special  praise,  nor  do  I  know 
the  name  of  the  artist,  but  for  me  it  is  a  masterpiece. 

Of  course  we  visited  the  old  palaces  of  the  Doges, 
and  the  prison  in  which  political  prisoners,  as  well 
as  criminals,  were  incarcerated  in  vaults  that  were 
utterly  dark  and  without  ventilation,  and  the  Bridge 
of  Sighs,  over  which  they  passed  only  to  die. 

From  Venice  we  went  to  Milan.  It  would  amuse 
you  to  see  us  taking  our  departure  from  an  Italian 
hotel.  Every  servant  that  has  had  anything  to  do 
about  our  room  or  table,  stations  himself  in  our 
way  to  take  an  affectionate  leave  of  us.  You  never 
saw  such  cordial  politeness.  The  interest  taken  in 
lis  is  as  great  as  if  it  had  been  grounded  on  the 
friendship  of  years.  Nor  can  this  yearning  affection 
be  satisfied  with  anything  less  than  a  gratuity  of  one 
or  two  francs.  How  many  are  there  here  to  dismiss 
us  with  touching  adieux  at  a  franc  each?  Let  me 
see,  there  is  the  boot-black,  the  hall  servant,  the 
chambermaid,  two  or  three  table-waiters,  an«d  the 
porter. 

I  will  put  an  Italian  against  the  world  for  polite 
begging.  In  Venice,  wherever  we  landed  in  a  gon- 
dola, there  would  be  an  idle  man  or  boy  to  seize  the 
edge  of  the  boat,  and  pretend  to  hold  it  for  us  till 
we  got  out — a  thing  there  was  no  occasion  in  the 
world  for — then  off  comes  the  hat  for  a  penny.     The 


ITALY.  555 

same  upon  re-entering.  At  Florence,  when  we  were 
out  in  a  carriage,  if  we  stopped  some  loafer  was  at 
hand  to  open  the  door  and  bow  for  his  centime. 
When  we  returned,  another  would  pretend  to  brush 
the  cushions,  and,  holding  the  door,  would  bow  us  in 
with  a  sort  of  courtly  humility,  and  turn  up  a 
beseeching  face  for  his  copper.  Women  and  girls 
press  their  flowers  upon  you  at  every  turn  with  per- 
sistent importunity. 

The  first  thing  we  did  at  Milan  was  to  ascend  the 
tower  of  the  Cathedral,  one  of  the  grandest  in  all 
Europe.  The  atmosphere  was  not  clear,  so  we  got 
no  good  distant  view.  From  the  walls  of  this  build- 
ing rise  a  good  many  small  towers,  each  crowned 
with  a  marble  statue.  Many  other  statues  are  scat- 
tered around  in  recesses  and  wherever  a  place 
can  be  found  to  put  one,  amounting  in  all,  I  believe, 
to  three  thousand.  The  roof  is  so  arranged  that 
you  can  walk  all  over  it. 

Milan  is  in  many  respects  a  fine  city.  In  the 
region  of  the  best  retail  stores,  two  streets,  which 
cross  each  other,  are  roofed  over  with  glass,  the  roof 
springing  in  the  form  of  an  arch  from  the  lofty  walls 
of  the  houses,  and  taking  the  form  of  a  dome  where 
the  streets  cross.  Ladies  shopping  are  thus  pro- 
tected from  rains.     It  is  very  beautiful. 

Of  course  we  would  see  the  M  Last  Supper,"  by 
Leonardo  de  Vinci,  here.  It  is  on  the  wall  of  the 
refectory  in  an  old  monastery,  and  is  much  faded. 
Engravings  of  it  abound  in  America.  It  is  intended 
to  represent  the  moment  after  our  Lord  has  an- 
nounced, "  One  of  you  shall  betray  me." 

On  Sunday  we  visited  a  Waldensian  church.     The 


556  ITALY. 

building  is  small.  The  worshipers  were  mostly  of 
the  poorer  classes.  The  service  did  not  impress  me 
so  favorably  as  I  had  hoped,  but  as  I  did  not  under- 
stand the  language,  I  was,  of  course,  not  a  com- 
petent critic. 

A  two  hours'  run  by  rail  from  Milan,  brought  us  to 
Como,  on  Lake  Como.  The  town  lies  in  an  amphi- 
theatre of  mountains.  The  lake  is  long  and  narrow, 
with  clear  water,  and  bold  mountains  rising  on  both 
sides.  The  lower  slopes  are  cultivated  by  terracing; 
in  some  places  this  extends  to  the  summits.  Trees 
abound.  The  course  of  the  narrow  sheet  of  water 
is  tortuous,  somewhat;  just  enough  to  enhance  the 
beauty.  Caves,  gorges,  precipices,  appear  in  the 
mountains,  as  we  shoot  along  rapidly  on  our  neat 
little  steamer,  with  here  and  there  a  mountain  stream 
rushing  down,  and  snow-covered  ranges  showing  in 
the  distance.  Add  to  this  the  ever-changing  views 
of  towns  and  towers  and  villas,  with  the  varying 
shades  of  a  day  partly  cloudy,  partly  clear,  as  we 
had  it,  and  you  have  a  scene  of  beauty  that  would 
baffle  a  poet  for  description. 

At  the  town  of  Bellagio  we  spent  an  afternoon  and 
night.  My  room  fronted  the  lake.  My  pen  is  dis- 
couraged. Everywhere,  as  I  look  out,  beauty  nestles 
in  the  lap  of  sublimity — loveliness  smiles  upon  the 
brow  of  grandeur.  A  bluish  haze  invests  the  distant 
reaches  of  the  landscape  like  a  transparent  vail. 
Between  me  and  the  distant  mountains  a  great  bird 
came  sailing  into  the  field  of  vision  and  brought  back 
a  feeling  of  my  childhood ;  a  strange  longing  to  rise 
in  the  air  and  float  up  and  away,  away,  off  into  those 
supernal  regions  iif  the  impossible  heights,  which,  in 


ITALY.  557 

the  infinite  mystery  of  their  remoteness,  mock  all 
mortal  aspirations. 

The  following  day  we  crossed  over  to  Lake 
Laguna,  through  a  pass  in  the  mountains,  had  a  ride 
on  it,  and  then  over  to  Lake  Maggiore.  This  lake 
we  descended  to  its  southern  point,  landing  at 
Arona.  We  had  made  the  tour  of  the  lake  in  two 
days  from  Milan.  By  taking  an  early  start  it  may 
be  made  in  one.  I  give  my  suffrage  to  the  universal 
verdict  as  to  the  grandeur  and  beauty  of  this  scenery. 
That  on  Como  is  considered  the  best. 

Leaving  Arona  at  midnight,  we  had  a  twenty 
hours'  ride  by  diligence,  crossing  the  Alps  by  the 
great  Simplon  road.  Precipices,  gorges,  cascades, 
grandeurs  everywhere  !  On  the  summit  is  a  hospice 
for  the  relief  of  storm-bound  travelers  in  the  winter. 
Even  now,  June  20,  heavy  snow-banks  lie  along  by 
the  side  of  the  road.  The  air  is  fresh,  and  I  don  my 
overcoat. 

What  a  piece  of  engineering  this  road  is !  At  one 
place  it  runs  right  under  an  overhanging  rock  and 
behind  a  water-fail.  It  is  a  monument  of  the  power 
and  wisdom  of  the  first  Napoleon. 

Passing  the  summit,  we  looked  down  upon  the 
little  city  of  Brieg,  nestled  in  the  valley  of  the  Rhone. 
We  had  been  for  some  hours  in  Switzerland.  At 
nine  o'clock  at  night  we  reached  Seusse,  where  we 
slept,  and  in  the  morning  took  rail  for  Lake  Leman. 
At  noon  we  took  passage  on  a  beautiful  little  steamer, 
ran  the  whole  length  of  the  lake  and  reached  Geneva 
before  sunset.  At  the  upper  end  this  lake  lies  in 
the  midst  of  lofty  mountains,  but  as  you  approach 
Geneva  they  recede  from  the  water's  edge  and  leave 


558  ITALY. 

it  a  wide  border  of  level  or  undulating  ground  in 
which  villages  and  villas  abound.  Toward  the  upper 
end  is  the  castle  of  Chillon,  standing  out  in  the  water 
— a  good  place  for  a  prison,  I  should  say.  The  class 
of  tourists  who  know  all  about  counts  and  dukes  and 
princes  point  out  many  chateans  of  famous  people 
here.  About  two  miles  from  the  shore,  and  not  far 
from  Geneva,  is  a  beautiful  one  built  by  Necker,  to 
which  he  retired  after  he  lost  his  prestige  in  French 
politics.  Here  his  daughter,  Madame  de  Stael,  lived 
at  one  time.  It  now  belongs  to  her  grandson, 
de  Broglie,  and  it  is  said  he  is  putting  it  in  repair  for 
occupancy — perhaps  not  sooner  than  he  will  need  it. 
He  seems  in  a  fair  way  to  repeat  the  role  of  his  great 
ancestor,  in  some  particulars. 

Near  the  upper  end  of  the  lake  there  is  the  rarest 
little  island,  only  about  twenty  feet  long,  and  just 
barely  rising  above  the  surface  of  the  water,  with 
three  trees  growing  upon  it,  said  to  be  elms  planted 
by  some  lady  a  hundred  years  ago. 

There  are  twenty-two  Cantons  in  the  Swiss  Con- 
federacy. They  have  two  legislative  bodies,  answer- 
ing to  our  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives. 
The  lower  House  is  called  the  National  Council  and 
represents  the  people.  The  upper  House  is  com- 
posed of  forty-four  members  who  represent,  not  the 
people  directly,  but  the  Cantons,  as  such.  The 
chief  executive  authority  is  vested  in  the  Federal 
Council,  consisting  of  seven  members.  Each  one  of 
these  has  charge  of  some  one  department  of  public 
affairs — the  Treasury,  the  Army,  and  so  on — while 
together  they  constitute  the  supreme  executive 
power   of  the    confederacy.     They  serve    for   three 


ITALY.  559 

years    at    a    time.       This    constitution    was    made 
recently,  in  1848,  I  believe. 

Of  course  I  visited  the  old  Cathedral,  made  famous 
by  the  ministry  of  Calvin,  and  the  Academy  and 
the  Museum  of  Antiquities,  which  contains  many 
portraits  and  autographs  of  distinguished  men. 
There  are  the  autographs  of  Necker  and  de  Stael,  of 
Mirabeau,  La  Place,  Leibnitz,  Fenelon,  Bossuet,  La- 
grange, Diderot,  Montesquieu,  Frederic  "  le  grand," 
Louis  XV.,  Humboldt,  Talleyrand,  Napoleon  I., 
Marat  and  a  great  many  others.  What  a  mixture  S 
Marat  and  Fenelon  ;  could  there  be  a  greater  con- 
trast? I  ought  to  have  named  Dugald  Stuart  and 
Thomas  Jefferson.  Some  specimens  are  very  elegant, 
some  very  inelegant. 

The  portraits  interested  me  more.  There  was  the 
Admiral  Coligny,  a  noble  face,  and  Luther,  much  the 
same  as  in  the  common  engravings.  Melancthon's 
countenance  is  at  once  noble  and  amiable,  just  what 
you  would  expect.  Zwingle — I  have  seen  a  face 
just  like  it  somewhere.  Erasmus  has  an  exagger- 
ated nose,  not  Roman  in  type,  but  very  long,  while 
the  sharp  end  turns  up  somewhat.  John  Knox  looks 
as  if  he  might  be  ready  to  fight  a  battle  any  day. 
F.  M.  L.  Laville  looks  for  all  the  world  like  Bishop 
Early.  Sismondi  is  fat  and  looks  the  very  imper- 
sonation of  good  humor.  But  there  is  no  more  strik- 
ing face  among  them  all  than  that  of  John  Calvin. 
The  nose  is  prominent,  but  straight  and  thin  and 
sharp,  while  the  forehead,  eyes  and  cheeks  seem 
ready  to  follow  where  the  most  adventurous  nose 
might  choose  to  lead. 

In  the  Museum  are  also  many  specimens  of  ancient 


56b  ITALY. 

manuscripts,  some  illuminated  and  some  on  papyrus, 
one  sheet  of  which  is  said  to  be  the  writing  of  St. 
Augustine.  There  is  a  remarkably  fine  Bible,  too, 
which  was  to  have  been  presented  to  Henry  IV.  of 
France,  but  he  fell  away  from  the  Protestant  cause 
and  the  gift  was  withheld. 

In  the  Academy  is  a  collection  of  specimens  of 
Natural  History  even  larger  than  that  at  Florence. 
The  varieties  of  swine,  squirrels  and  rodents  really 
amazed  me.  But  to  cap  all,  they  have  stuffed  speci- 
mens of  the  rhinoceros,  hippopotamus  and  elephant. 
I  cannot  imagine  how  they  managed  the  unwieldy 
Mdes  of  these  monsters,  but  by  some  means  they 
&ave  done  it  admirably. 

On  leaving  Geneva  we  went  to  Interlaken,  stop- 
ping a  while  at  Berne  on  the  way.  On  the  way  we 
saw  a  good  deal  of  Swiss  rural  life,  the  characteristic 
cottages,  the  neat  farming  reminding  us  of  Japan ; 
women  at  work  in  the  fields,  and  chubby,  fat-faced 
children  waddling  around  in  old-fashioned  home- 
spun. Berne  is  the  capital  of  the  Confederacy.  The 
public  buildings  are  not  very  remarkable.  What  in- 
terested me  most  was  the  fossils  in  the  Museum. 
For  the  first  time  I  saw  the  Ichthyosaurus.  It  is 
~pst  what  the  name  imports,  a  mixture  of  lizard  and 
%stt. 

Between  two  lakes,  Thun  and  Brienz,  lies  the 
town  of  Interlaken.  There  we  spent  a  rainy  Sunday 
and  heard  two  capital  sermons  by  a  Scotch  minister 
s»f  the  Free  Church,  which  keeps  a  pastor  during  the 
tourist  season. 

Monday  we  went  out  to  Grindenwald  to  see  a 
great  glacier  lying  in  a  gorge  near  the  town.     This 


ITALY.  56l 

glacier  was  once  much  more  extensive  than  it  is 
now,  as  the  worn  and  striated  rocks  about  the  lower 
end  of  it  show.  An  artificial  grotto  has  been  made 
in  it,  which  we  entered,  and  were  interested  to  see 
the  effect  of  the  light  shining  through  such  a  mass 
of  ice. 

Portions  of  the  glacier  are  clear,  solid  ice.  Here 
and  there  is  a  deep  indentation  made  by  streams  of 
water  formed  upon  the  thawing-  surface.  In  places 
where  the  slow,  onward  movement  carries  it  over 
uneven  surfaces,  it  becomes  broken  into  fissures. 
Near  the  foot  the  mass  must  be  a  hundred  feet  in 
depth,  possibly  much  more.  What  it  is  in  the  deep 
gorges  above,  it  is  impossible  to  guess. 

We  heard  a  pistol  shot,  and  the  Alpine  horn,  the 
echoes  of  which,  among  the  mountains,  are  very 
fine. 

We  returned  to  Interlaken  in  time  to  take  the 
boat  for  Geissback  on  Lake  Brienz.  Here  is  a  fine 
hotel.  The  object  of  interest  is  a  water-fall  that 
comes  down  a  mountain-side  in  several  successive 
leaps.  It  is  illuminated  at  night.  Light  of  varying 
colors  is  thrown  in  behind  the  water,  first  white,  then 
blue,  then  yellow,  then  blood-red,  and  then  it  is  sud- 
denly extinguished,  leaving  a  darkness  that  is  posi- 
tively black.  It  is  a  spectacle  that  would  repay  a 
voyage  across  the  ocean. 

Morning  comes,  we  cross  to  Brienz,  take  dili- 
gence for  the  Lake  of  Lucerne,  on  which  we  steam 
down  to  the  city  of  the  same  name,  which  we  reach 
in  time  for  the  steamer  to  Rigi  landing.  On  the 
summit  of  the  Rigi  are  two  hotels.  You  have  here 
a  remarkable  view  of  the  whole  range  of  the  Swiss 


562  ITALY. 

Alps,  including  the  Bernese  Oberland.  The  ascent 
to  the  summit  is  made  by  rail,  by  a  grade  which  is 
in  some  places  twenty-five  per  cent. — five  feet  in 
every  twenty.  A  frightful  chasm  is  crossed  on  the 
slenderest  of  iron  bridges.  The  train  climbs  along 
the  edge  of  precipices,  and  at  first  you  expect  to 
have  your  neck  broken. 

Wc  slept  in  the  Rigi  Hotel,  and  following  the 
fashion  of  tourists,  answered  the  call  of  the  Alpine 
horn  at  daybreak,  got  out  of  a  warm  bed,  and  went 
out  to  shiver  in  the  chill  mountain  air  and  see  the 
sun  rise  and  flood  the  snow-covered  masses  with  his 
first  beams.  There  was  a  crowd  of  people  out,  all 
solemnly  impressed  with  the  duty  of  the  hour,  which 
was  to  be  enthusiastic.  Many  had  their  red-backed 
guide-books  in  hand,  doing  their  best  to  make  out 
which  was  "  Pilatus,"  which  was  the  "  Matterhorn," 
the  "  Wetterhorn"  and  other  famous  peaks,  "too 
numerous  to  mention."  Meantime  every  one  was 
shivering.  It  was  an  effort  to  get  up  enthusiasm 
"under  difficulties."  Now  and  then  you  would  hear 
a  vigorous  exclamation,  but  it  sounded  as  if  it  was 
premeditated.  People,  you  know,  must  show  how 
susceptible  of  the  sublime  they  are.  I  would  have 
given  a  dollar  for  a  blazing  fire  to  go  to.  After  all, 
the  sun  rose  under  a  cloud. 

The  next  night  found  us  in  Germany  at  Strasburg. 
We  had  an  hour  at  Basle,  on  the  way.  Basle  is, 
perhaps,  the  wealthiest  city  in  Switzerland.  There 
we  had  our  first  view  of  the  Rhine,  and  visited  the 
famous  old  Minster. 

The  object  of  especial  interest  at  Strasburg  is  the 
great   Cathedral,   which    was    several    centuries    in 


ITALY.  563 

building,  and  is  said  to  show  in  different  parts  the 
birth,  the  culmination  and  finally  the  degeneration  of 
the  Romanesque  style  of  architecture. 

On  our  way  to  Frankfort  we  made  a  detour  in 
order  to  see  the  city  of  Baden  Baden.  The  gambling 
is  stopped  here  by  law,  at  last.  But  the  waters — 
warm  springs — are  very  celebrated,  and  the  place  is 
still  much  resorted  to.  It  is  as  famous  as  Switzer- 
land for  fine  hotels,  inasmuch  as,  like  Switzerland,  it 
makes  all  its  money  from  travelers.  The  "  Conver- 
sation House,"  where  the  gambling  was  carried  on, 
is  magnificently  fitted  up,  and  is  now  used  for  lec- 
tures, reading  rooms,  and  such  like  purposes.  The 
place  is  said  to  be  visited  by  forty  or  fifty  thousand 
persons  a  year. 

At  Heidelberg  we  stopped  mainly  to  see  the  old 
castle,  which  is  said  to  be  the  most  remarkable  one 
in  Germany,  though  it  was  nothing  like  so  large  as 
that  at  Banias.  It  was,  however,  much  more  elegant, 
being  not  only  a  fortification,  but  also  the  palace  of 
the  Electors  of  the  Palatinate  of  the  Rhine. 

We  were  shown  through  the  castle  by  a  very  sen- 
sible young  woman,  who  spoke  English  well,  and 
explained  to  us  the  uses  of  the  various  parts  of  the 
building.  The  great  Heidelberg  Tun  is  here.  The 
Neckar,  a  tributary  of  the  Rhine,  flows  by  the  city 
and  close  below  the  castle. 

We  had  but  three  hours  for  Frankfort  on  the 
Main,  the  old  residence  of  the  Rothschild  family, 
and  the  birth-place  of  Goethe.  The  people  are 
proud  to  point  out  the  quaint  old  house  in  which  the 
Baron  Rothschild  was  born.  On  the  principal 
streets  are  statues  of  Goethe  and  Schiller. 


564  ITALY. 

From  Frankfort  we  came  on  to  Mayence — Mainz, 
the  Germans  call  it.  You  must  know  that  the 
English  form  of  several  names  in  Germany  and  Italy 
differs  from  that  used  by  the  people  of  those  coun- 
tries. You  will  never  hear  of  Florence,  for  instance, 
in  Italy.  It  is  Frienzi.  Vienna,  in  Austria,  is  Wien. 
Venice  is  Venezia. 

Mayence  is  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  and 
dates  from  the  time  of  Augustus  Caesar,  who  occu- 
pied the  place  by  his  General,  Drusus,  as  a  fortified 
camp.  From  this  place  we  expect  to  take  a  ride  on 
the  Rhine,  by  boat,  as  far  as  Cologne — Koln,  they 
call  it. 

I  am  struck  with  the  absence  of  what  I  expected 
to  see  in  Germany — that  is  wooden  shoes  and  such. 
The  people,  rich  and  poor,  dress  just  as  in  American 
cities.  No  doubt  in  the  interior  the  wooden  shoe 
still  abounds  in  some  parts,  but  in  the  cites  we  have 
visited  it  is  rarely  seen.  The  laboring  people  are 
dressed  as  well  as  among  us,  if  not  better.  The 
dressy  women  even  walk  exactly  as  in  American 
cities,  with  the  same  swing,  and  holding  up  the  back 
part  of  their  skirts,  in  the  same  lovely  wray. 

But  Germany  is  becoming  modernized,  and  so  is 
every  place  where  the  railroad  goes.  I  wish  I 
could  find  a  place  outside  of  heathendom  where  the 
charming  simplicity  of  the  past  might  be  immortal. 
Just  think  of  a  train  of  cars  puffing  away  between 
Athens  and  the  Pireus,  passing  by  the  Hill  of  the 
Nymphs  and  the  Pnyx  and  rolling  the  black  volume 
of  its  smoke  against  the  base  of  the  Acropolis  !  The 
moment  it  is  done   the  Greek  girls  get  into   tight- 


CONCLUSION.  565 

waisted  dresses,  and  wriggle  along  the  streets  in  pull- 
backs,  holding  up  their  skirts  behind. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

.     CONCLUSION* 

\ .  /  HAT  part  of  the  Rhine  which  is  so  much 
spoken  of  for  its  beauty  lies  between  Mayence 
and  Cologne.  Above  Mayence  to  the  Alps, 
and  below  Cologne  to  the  sea,  it  passes  through  a 
level  region.  A  short  distance  below  Mayence  the 
hills  close  in  upon  it.  For  a  considerable  distance 
they  are  very  bold,  and  rise  from  the  water's  edge. 
In  many  places  the  steep  slopes  are  terraced  and  set 
with  vineyards,  just  as  I  had  supposed,  only  the 
vines  are.  more  stumpy  than  I  had  imagined,  and  for 
that  reason  less  beautiful.  Yet  they  are  very  pretty, 
especially  as  every  turn  in  the  tortuous  course  of 
the  river  reveals  new  angles  of  the  slopes  with  the 
horizon,  and  with  each  other  and  the  river.  In  the 
swift  movement  of  the  boat  the  scene  is  shifted  so 
rapidly  as  to  seem  almost  like  a  picture  of  the 
imagination.  As  in  the  kaleidoscope,  you  see  new 
combinations  so  rapidly  as  to  be  almost  startled  by 
the  pleasure  of  a  surprise. 


566  CONCLUSION. 

The  old  castles  on  the  hills  that  skirt  the  river  are 
more  numerous  and  better  preserved  than  I  expected 
to  see,  and  constitute  a  notable  feature  of  the 
scenery.  But  they  are  for  the  most  part  smaller 
than  I  had  supposed.  But  this  is  compensated  in 
part  by  the  prominent  and  picturesque  situations 
they  occupy.  One  I  observed  standing  on  a  rock 
projecting  out  from  the  face  of  the  hill  towards  the 
river,  so  narrow  and  so  high  that  it  seems  incredible 
that  any  one  should  have  thought  to  build  on  it. 
But  the  more  inaccessible  the  better  in  those  old 
feudal  times.  One  of  them  has  been  recently  put 
in  repair  by  the  Emperor,  and  is  sometimes  occupied, 
I  understand,  as  a  summer  residence,  by  the  Crown 
Prince. 

The  principal  cities  along  this  part  of  the  river  are 
Bonn  and  Coblentz,  the  latter  of  which  has  played  a 
somewhat  conspicuous  part  in  European  wars.  The 
fortress  on  the  bank  opposite  the  city  is  so  strong 
that  it  has  been  compared  to  Gibraltar.  In  fact  this 
river  is  fairly  lined  with  defensive  works,  which  are 
kept  in  perfect  repair.  This  is  owing,  I  suppose,  to 
the  fact  that  it  lies  so  near  the  frontier. 

We  also  passed  "  Bingen,  sweet  Bingen  on  the 
Rhine."  The  scenery  around  it  is  very  fine.  To 
a  soldier  who  was  born  there,  whose  kindred  were 
there,  and  his  sweetheart  besides,  when  he  was 
dying  on  a  distant  battlefield,  it  would  seem  a  very 
paradise.  I  plead  guilty  to  a  special  interest  in 
Bingen.  I  used  to  think,  when  a  boy,  that  that 
Bingen  girl  ought  to  have  died  when  she  got  the 
message  of  her  dying  lover — but  ten  chances  to  one 
she  was  already  engaged  to  another — probably  some 


CONCLUSION.  567 

beer-bloated  clod-hopper  in  wooden  shoes.  Don't 
you  think  so  ?  But  the  case  does  not  trouble  me  as 
much  now  as  it  did  then. 

We  spent  a  Sunday  at  Cologne,  where  I  saw 
the  name  of  the  city  spelt  three  different  ways — 
Koln,  Coin  and  Coeln.  All  the  world  knows  about 
the  Eau  de  Cologne  which  is  manufactured  here  in 
incredible  quantities,  and  gets  into  foreign  markets, 
probably,  in  still  greater  quantities.  Coleridge  has 
given  this  city  a  wide  notoriety  for  its  filth  and  vile 
odors,  but  either  the  poet  has  done  the  place  an  in- 
justice or  it  has  improved  greatly  since  his  day. 
There  is  also  a  great  Cathedral  here,  somewhat  in 
the  style  of  that  in  Milan,  but  decidedly  inferior 
to  it. 

Our  next  point  was  Amsterdam,  by  rail.  The 
eastern  portion  of  Holland  through  wHich  we  passed 
is  a  low  region,  not  perfectly  flat,  but  undulating.  It 
is  sandy,  sterile  and  uncultivated,  but  yields  some  fair 
pasturage.  At  Utrecht  we  entered  the  real  low 
country,  intersected  by  canals  and  ditches  in  every 
direction,  with  neat  cottages  and  an  abounding  cul- 
tivation. 

Amsterdam  has  long  been  a  leading  commercial 
centre,  famous  for  its  old-style  houses,  its  great 
bankers  and  its  merchant  princes.  After  all  the 
descriptions  I  had  read  of  it,  it  was  different  from  any 
preconception.  The  houses  differ  from  those  of  an 
American  city  more  in  the  quaint  style  of  the  roof 
than  in  any  other  respect,  but  many  of  them  are  now 
wanting  in  even  this  peculiarity. 

Long  time  ago  a  dam  was  constructed  on  the  river 
Amstel.     Just  there  a  city  was  built.     You  see  the 


568  CONCLUSION. 

genesis  of  the  name.  It  is  said  that  in  early  times 
there  was  a  mining  town  near  a  dam  on  the  Yuba 
River.  A  colporteur  once  entered  the  place  and 
asked  the  name  of  it,  first  of  one  and  then  of 
another,  and  got  the  uniform  answer,  Yuba  Dam. 
He  was  greatly  shocked  by  their  profanity.  He 
could  not  ask  a  simple  question  but  they  would 
swear  at  him. 

The  women  on  the  streets,  young  and  old,  wear 
caps,  white  as  snow,  with  ruffled  border,  just  such  as 
the  old  ladies  had  when  I  was  a  boy.  There  is  noth- 
ing in  this  world  in  which  a  pretty  woman  looks 
sweeter.  No  frizzed  hair,  nor  pancake  bonnet,  nor 
flashy  ribbons  can  begin  to  compare  with  it.  And 
one  thing  I  am  disappointed  in  here  is  the  great 
number  of  good  looking  people.  I  had  supposed 
the  Dutch  were  nearly  all  fat  and  chufify,  with  coarse 
features.  Far  from  it.  I  have  never  seen  in  any  city, 
at  home  or  abroad,  a  better  average  of  beautiful 
women ;  beautiful  both  in  face  and  form ;  many, 
even,  of  the  working  classes  are  very  pretty.  I  have 
seen  them  scrubbing  the  pavement  with  their  white 
caps  on  and  their  clean  dresses  tucked  up  in  a 
becoming  way,  presenting  a  charming  picture. 

A  good  many  elderly  women  wear  a  piece  of  head 
gear  that  is  very  peculiar.  A  thin  gold  plate, 
slightly  convex  and  perfectly  polished,  is  fixed  on 
each  side  of  the  head;  they  are  three  or  four  inches 
in  diameter,  and  from  the  front  edge,  projecting  for- 
ward, is  a  spiral  gold  wire,  from  the  end  of  which 
several  small  pieces  of  jewelry  are  pendent.  It 
looks  very  odd,  and  must  be  an  old  style,  as  I  saw 
no  young  women  wearing  it. 


CONCLUSION.  569 

The  ladies  here  have  a  contrivance  which  enables 
them  to  see  what  is  going  on  in  the  street  while 
they  sit  at  their  sewing  or  reading  in  their  rooms. 
Two  looking-glasses  are  set  outside  of  the  window 
at  such  angles  that  one  gets  the  object  on  the  street 
and  gives  it  to  the  other  in  which  it  is  seen  from 
within.  We  saw  them  in  all  the  cities  in  the  Neth- 
erlands, as  well  as  a  few  in  Paris.  I  noticed  them 
on  one  or  two  houses  in  London. 

I  am  often  reminded  by  signs  on  business  houses 
of  the  affinity  between  our  language  and  the  Dutch. 
That  which  I  have  often  seen  over  carpenters'  shops 
amuses  me  by  its  length — Timmermannsverkplaatz. 
Four  words  were  used  up  in  making  it,  afcer  the 
fashion  of  making  compound  words,  for  which  both 
the  German  and  Dutch  languages,  are,  I  believe, 
somewhat  remarkable.  These  four  words  are  all 
closely  allied  to  their  equivalents  in  English.  I 
afterwards  saw  in  Brussels,  where  the  French  lan- 
guage is  much  in  vogue,  city  lots  placarded  for  sale 
in  these  terms,  "  Terraine  a  vendere  en  partie  au  en 
bloc!'  It  at  once  occurred  to  me  that  the  words  of 
our  language  which  are  from  the  same  root  as  others 
in  the  German  or  Dutch  are  always  of  the  old  Saxon 
stock,  it  is  words  of  Latin  origin  which  we  have  in 
common  with  the  French. 

In  Amsterdam  "we  found  quarters  in  the  old 
"  Bible  Hotel,"  so  named  from  the  circumstance  that 
it  is  the  house  in  which  the  first  Bible  in  the  Dutch 
language  was  printed.  A  copy  of  the  first  edition  is 
kept  in  the  house  and  exhibited  to  guests  if  they 
desire  to  see  it. 

At  the  Hague   we  saw  the   very  interesting    old 


570  CONCLUSION. 

Museums  and  drove  out  to  the  Queen's  palace,  where 
is  a  likeness  of  Mr.  Motley,  who  was  on  terms  of 
friendship  with  her  Royal  Highness. 

There  is  not  much  to  interest  one  at  Rotterdam, 
though  the  Church  of  St.  Lawrence  is  a  very  large 
building,  several  hundred  years  old.  As  in  many 
other  old  European  churches,  the  floors  are  of  large 
stone  slabs,  on  each  of  which  is  an  epitaph  of  some 
person  buried  under  it.  Very  often  these  stones  are 
so  old  as  to  be  deeply  worn  by  human  feet,  so  that 
the  epitaphs  are  well  nigh  obliterated.  A  space  is 
railed  off  in  this  church  in  which  all  marriages  take 
place.  I  observed  the  slabs  with  epitaphs,  so  that 
Dutch  youth  stand  on  the  graves  of  their  ancestors 
when  they  plight  their  troth  in  holy  matrimony. 

Passing  out  of  Holland  into  Belgium,  our  first 
point  was  Antwerp.  At  the  boundaries  of  all  these 
little  European  Governments  the  traveler  has  to  sub- 
mit to  the  annoyance  of  a  custom  house  examination 
of  his  baggage — that  is,  all  except  Switzerland.  It 
is  the  policy  of  the  Swiss  to  give  every  encourage- 
ment to  travel  and  every  facility  to  travelers. 

Antwerp — Anvers,  they  write  it — has  quite  the 
look  of  a  modern  city,  and  is  a  growing  city.  An 
artist  would  enjoy  the  museum  of  paintings,  all  in  the 
Flemish  style  and  by  native  artists;  Rubens,  Van 
Duyk,  Rembrandt,  and  others.  This  style  is  peculiar 
in  some  respects,  especially  in  the  coloring,  which  is 
very  rich.  Perhaps  Rubens  is  considered  the  great- 
est of  these  artists,  and  there  are  several  of  his  mas- 
terpieces here.  The  crucifixion,  the  descent  from  the 
cross,  the  dead  body  of  the  Saviour  surrounded  by  his 
friends,  and  the  entombment,  seem  to  have  been  his 


CONCLUSION.  571 

favorite  subjects.  He  made  a  good  many  paintings 
of  Christ  on  the  cross.  One  very  striking  one  repre- 
sents the  spear  thrust  into  the  side  of  our  Lord  after 
he  was  dead.  Few  paintings,  even  by  the  great 
Italian  masters,  impressed  me  more  than  this. 

Brussels,  the  capital  of  Belgium,  is  called  the  Paris 
of  the  Netherlands.  It  is  indeed  a  fine  city  and 
very  prosperous,  but  its  chief  interest  is  in  its  vicin- 
ity to  a  small  country  village  called  Waterloo.  Of 
course  we  visited  the  battle-field. 

With  the  aid  of  some  reading  and  an  intelligent 
guide  I  comprehended  the  ground  and  the  whole 
process  of  the  conflict.  What  an  advantage  the 
allied  forces  had  in  their  position  !  It  would  have 
argued  imbecility  in  Wellington  if  he  had  been 
defeated. 

Napoleon  was  in  desperate  circumstances  and  was 
obliged  to  play  a  desperate  game.  The  great  gam- 
bler in  kingdoms  staked  every  thing  on  his  last  card 
here — and  lost.  Alas  !  so  must  all  human  greatness 
end.  No  Caesar  can  be  so  great  but  he  must  perish, 
no  imperial  pride  so  lofty  but  it  must  come  down. 

The  Dutch  have  thrown  up  a  great  mound  of 
earth  here,  two  or  three  hundred  feet  high,  and  sur- 
mounted it  with  a  colossal  figure  of  a  lion.  Our 
Belgian  guide,  who  has  the  common  contempt  of  his 
countrymen  for  the  Dutch,  laughed  at  this  Dutch 
lion  with  his  tail  between  his  legs.  The  British  lion, 
he  affirmed,  always  carries  his  tail  up  over  his  back. 

Brussels  is  situated  just  at  the  edge  of  that  large 
scope  of  level  country  called  the  Netherlands.  In- 
deed a  part  of  the  city  lies  on  the  rising  ground  that 


572  CONCLUSION. 

sets  in  here,  and  the  road  out  to  Waterloo  crosses  a 
very  beautiful  and  undulating  country. 

The  battle-field  is  now  covered  with  wheat  and 
rye  and  other  crops.  The  growth  is  heavy,  and  the 
old  men  say  that  for  twenty  years  after  the  battle,  in 
the  places  where  the  greatest  carnage  was,  the  grain 
was  very  rank. 

We  visited  the  establishment  where  the  Brussels 
point  lace  is  made,  and  saw  the  women  at  work, 
of  whom  a  thousand  are  employed,  but  most  of  them 
do  the  work  at  their  own  homes.  After  witnessing 
the  tedious  process  I  ceased  to  wonder  why  this 
elegant  work  should  be  so  dear.  The  only  wonder 
is  that  it  is  so  cheap.  The  poor  women  work  for 
wages  that  we  would  starve  upon  in  St.  Louis,  and 
much  of  the  lace  that  has  adorned  the  necks  of 
princesses  has  been  wrought  by  weary  fingers  and 
aching  eyes  to  feed  hunger-bitten  children.  Even 
then,  after  twelve  hours  of  such  steady,  taxing  work, 
the  food  that  had  been  earned  scarce  sufficed  for 
the  keen  edge  of  the  hunger  that  awaited  it.  Twelve 
hours  is  the  day's  work  of  these  lace-makers.  They 
get  but  little  exercise  in  the  open  air  and  most  of 
them  look  pale  and  wan. 

After  one  day  in  Brussels  we  went  on  to  Paris, 
through  a  country  part  of  which  is  beautifully  undu- 
lating; but  much  of  it  is  quite  level.  It  is  a  region 
of  great  fertility  and  for  the  most  part  under  a  high 
state  of  cultivation. 

I  am  surprised  to  find  it  so  cool  here  in  Paris  in 
mid-summer.  I  felt  this  morning  almost  as  if  a  fire 
would  be  pleasant.  But  the  weather  is  said  to  bfc 
quite  unusual. 


conclusion.  573 

I  scarcely  know  how  to  begin  to  write  about  Paris, 
which  has  been  the  scene  of  I  know  not  how  many 
revolutions  in  less  than  a  hundred  years,  and  which 
has  been  twice  entered  by  hostile  armies  within  the 
present  century,  and  recently  ravaged  by  the  com- 
munists, but  in  suite  of  all  continues  to  be  the  centre 
of  fashion  for  Europe  and  America,  and  is  the  gayest 
city,  and  one  of  the  most  prosperous  in  the  world. 
It  has  a  population  of  nearly  2,000,000,  which  is 
almost  four  times  as  large  as  at  the  beginning  of 
this  century.  It  seems  to  have  started  into  a  new 
life  after  the  revolution. 

The  river  Seine  divides  the  city  into  two  parts, 
that  on  the  north  side  being  the  larger.  The  general 
designation  of  the  streets  is  Rue,  as  the  Rue  St. 
Honore,  but  many  of  the  larger  and  finer  ones  are 
called  Boulevards,  and  some  Avenues.  Many  of  the 
Boulevards  were  made  by  Napoleon  III.,  through  the 
"heart  of  the  city,  the  houses  being  removed  to  make 
way  for  them.  They  were  projected  on  a  uniform 
plan,  and  run  in  straight  lines,  while  the  plan  of  the 
old  streets  was,  properly,  no  plan  at  all. 

The  most  extensive  galleries  of  statuary  and 
painting  in  the  world  are  here.  The  palace  of  the 
Louvre  is  all  occupied  as  a  museum  of  the  fine  arts. 
Just  to  go  through  it  you  must  walk  a  mile  and 
a  half.  Much  of  the  sculpture  is  from  the  classic 
times,  having  been  brought  from  time  to  time  from 
Italy  and  Greece.  Among  the  paintings  are  many 
works  of  first-rate  merit.  They  are  classified,  having 
those  of  a  certain  school  together  in  one  room. 
Thus  the  English,  the  Italian,  the  Dutch,  the  Ger- 
man, the  French,  have  each  a   separate   apartment, 


574  CONCLUSION. 

and  those  of  one  school  may  be  seen  and  studied 
together. 

In  the  palace  of  the  Luxembourg  there  is  a  gallery 
where  the  paintings  of  living  French  artists  are  kept. 
Many  of  them  impressed  me  very  unfavorably. 
They  betray  an  imagination  at  once  grotesque  and 
prurient. 

The  public  grounds  and  monuments  of  the  city 
constitute  an  important  feature  of  it.  I  can  mention 
only  a  few.  The  great  palaces  rather  disappointed 
me  at  first,  but  grew  upon  me  the  more  I  contem- 
plated them.  The  palace  of  the  Tuileries,  which 
was  destroyed  by  the  communists  in  the  awful  con- 
flagration oi  1 87 1 ,  is  still  in  ruins,  though  I  under- 
stand it  is  the  purpose  of  the  government  to  restore 
it.  It  is  connected  with  the  Louvre  by  a  wing. 
Near  by  is  the  Palace  Royal,  which,  however,  was 
never  used  as  a  royal  residence.  The  palace  of  the 
Luxembourg  was  the  property  of  the  Dukes  of  Lux- 
embourg. 

Connected  with  the  Luxembourg  and  the  Tuileries 
are  beautiful  gardens,  which  are,  in  fact,  public  parks. 
They  are  planted  with  shrubbery,  and  no  expense  is 
spared  in  the  improvement  and  decoration  of  them. 
All  the  public  grounds  and  streets  here  are  kept,  as 
you  may  say,  perfectly  clean. 

The  Champ  d'  Elysees  is  an  extension  westward 
of  the  Garden  of  the  Tuileries.  It  is  a  parallelogram 
planted  with  trees  and  traversed  by  a  broad  avenue 
which  terminates  at  the  great  Triumphal  Arch 
erected  by  Napoleon  I. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  things  about  the  city 
is  the  Tomb  of  Napoleon.     It  is  in  the  church  con- 


conclusion.  575 

nected  with  the  Hotel  des  Invalides.  You  enter  the 
church,  approach  a  heavy  circular  railing,  and  look- 
ing down  you  see  a  circular  balustrade  with  the 
Tomb  in  the  centre  of  the  circle.  It  is  immediately 
under  the  lofty  dome  of  the  building.  The  sarcoph- 
agus is  of  the  most  elegant  workmanship  and  the 
design  very  elegant.  It  is  made  of  a  stone  different 
from  any  I  ever  saw,  though  at  a  little  distance  it 
resembles  porphyry.  The  pedestal  on  which  it  rests 
is  on  a  floor  that  is  gorgeously  decorated,  while 
around  it  are  the  names  of  the  principal  battles  of 
the  hero.  A  number  of  life-size  figures  in  white 
marble,  intended  to  represent  angels,  surround  it. 
Off  on  one  side  is  an  altar  covered  with  a  gilt 
canopy,  which  is  supported  by  four  spiral  columns 
of  a  rare  species  of  marble. 

In  different  parts  of  the  church  are  other  tombs, 
some  of  them  very  magnificent,  but  there  is  nothing 
in  the  city,  probably  nothing  in  the  world,  that  will 
compare  with  this.     France  still  idolizes  this  man. 

Even  business  houses  have  an  artistic  air  here. 
The  Bourse  is  massive,  solid  looking,  yet  elegant. 
Many  banking  and  mercantile  establishments  are 
imposing  structures.  Some  retail  dry  goods  estab- 
lishments are  a  marvel  in  their  line,  both  for  beauty 
and  extent.  One  there  is  which  is  said  to  keep  a 
hundred  horses  of  the  best  blood  employed  in  deliv- 
ering packages,  the  carriages  in  use  being  costly  and 
the  drivers  in  livery.  The  shops — that  is,  the  retail 
stores — look  their  best  at  night,  with  plate  glass 
fronts  and  brilliant  lights.  The  American  ladies  are 
said  to  be  their  best  customers. 

There   is   a   church  here   that  is  commonly  called 


576  CONCLUSION. 

the  Pantheon.  It  took  that  name  during  the  Revolu- 
tion. Atheism  had  possession  cf  the  city,  the 
churches  were  desecrated,  a;;d  this  one  was  devoted 
to  the  memory  of  the  distinguished  men  of  French 
history.  It  was  to  contain  a  monument  or  an  inscrip- 
tion to  every  man  who  should  be  considered  worthy 
of  such  an  honor.  Even  the  church  of  Notre  Dame, 
the  great  cathedral  of  the  city,  was  converted  into  a 
Temple  of  Reason,  an  infamous  woman  being  en- 
throned in  it  as  the  Goddess  of  Reason. 

The  church  of  the  Madaline  has  had  a  similar 
history.  The  building  was  begun  in  the  last 
century,  the  general  design  being  in  imitation  of 
some  old  temple  with  a  cella  surrounded  by  a  peri- 
style. Napoleon  I.  found  it  unfinished,  and  ordered 
the  work  to  be  resumed  that  it  might  be  dedicated 
to  the  glory  of  France.  He  did  not  live  to  see  it 
completed.  It  is  now  finished,  however,  and  in  use 
as  a  church.  The  interior  is  most  unique  and  beau- 
tiful. 

When  the  commune  was  defeated  in  1 871,  three 
hundred  of  the  insurgents  took  refuge  in  this  church, 
and  here  they  were  shot.  The  recent  history  of  no 
other  city  in  Europe  has  such  tragic  passages  as  this. 

An  entire  chapter  might  well  be  devoted  to  the 
geological,  mineralogical,  and  zoological  museums, 
the  museum  of  comparative  anatomy  and  the  "Jar- 
din  des  Plantes,"  or  botanical  garden,  which  are  all 
in  one  enclosure. 

Immense  buildings  are  in  course  of  construction  in 
the  Champs  de  Mars  for  the  approaching  exposition. 
The  ground  to  be  occupied  will,  indeed,  be  much 
larger  than  the   Champs  de  Mars,  extending  over  a 


conclusion.  577 

large  space  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Seine,  with 
which  they  will  be  connected  by  a  magnificent 
bridge. 

What  shall  I  say  of  our  visit  to  Versailles  and  the 
palace  of  palaces  there  ?  that  stupendous  piece  of 
folly  in  which  Louis  XIV.  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
Revolution.  Palace  and  grounds  are  on  a  scale  of 
magnificence  beyond  anything  I  have  seen  in  any 
part  of  the  world.  The  building  is  much  visited 
for  the  splendor  of  it  and  the  fine  paintings  that  are 
in  it,  and  in  one  wing  of  it  the  National  Assembly 
holds  its  sittings.  Of  the  fountains,  lawns,  forests, 
I  cannot  speak. 

There  are  two  other  palaces  at  Versailles,  the 
Great  Trianon  and  the  Petite  Trianon.  In  the 
former  are  many  souvenirs  of  the  first  Napoleon,  who 
sometimes  occupied  it.  In  the  stables  near  by  are 
shown  the  state  carriages  of  the  later  French  Mon- 
archs.  One  of  them,  made  for  the  occasion  of  the 
coronation  of  the  last  of  the  Bourbons,  cost  1, 020,000 
francs,  or  $193,800. 

We  visited  the  factory  of  the  Sevres  porcelain,  the 

property  of  the  government.     Of  the  beauty  of  this 

ware  all  the  world  knows.     Some  of  the  best  artists 

in  the  country  are  employed  in  its  decoration,  and 

the  masterpieces  of  the  Louvre  are  copied  upon  it. 

Still  more  wonderful  is  the  manufacture  of  Gobelin 

tapestry.     It  is  all    done    by  hand,   and   the    most 

elaborate  designs  are  wrought  into  the  stuff.     It  is 

not  woven,  but  done  with  the  fingers.     Many  years 

are  required  to  finish  one  piece.     This  manufacture 

is  also  in  the  hands  of  the  government. 

At  every  turn  you  are  reminded  of  the  Revolution 
19 


578  CONCLUSION. 

of  1789.  I  mention  only  two  facts.  The  words 
Libertie,  Egalite,  Frateruitc,  are  found  inscribed  on 
public  buildings  everywhere,  even  where  you  would 
least  expect  to  see  them.  The  other  fact  is  that  an 
imposing  column  stands  on  the  spot  once  occupied 
by  the  Bastile,  crowned'  by  a  colossal  gilt  statue  of 
the  Genius  of  Liberty.  This  column  was  erected  by 
Louis  Philippe  in  1831,  but  it  properly  commemo- 
rates the  earlier  period. 

The  figure  on  the  lofty  summit  is  a  work  of  genius 
and  seems  to  me  to  represent  Liberty  as  well  as  such 
a  thing  can  be  done  by  art.  It  is  poised  on  tip-toe 
on  the  left  foot,  the  right  being  thrown  back  and 
elevated,  while  the  wings  are  spread,  and  a  torch 
borne  in  the  right  hand, 

No  government  does  so  much  to  gratify  and 
amuse  the  people  as  the  French.  All  the  galleries 
and  museums  are  open  to  the  public  without  charge, 
as  well  as  all  the  public  grounds.  The  annual  cost 
of  all  this  must  be  very  great. 

On  Sunday  we  attended  service  at  the  American 
Chapel  in  the  morning,  and  at  the  Wesleyan  in  the 
evening. 

We  crossed  over  to  England  by  the  way  of 
Dieppe  and  New  Haven,  reaching  the  latter  place 
after  night-fall.  The  next  morning  we  were  off  by 
an  early  train  for  Brighton,  where  we  spent  two  or 
three  hours  riding-  around  town  and  visiting  the 
aquarium.  What  is  this  my  eyes  see  in  England  ? 
A  little  wheeled  vehicle  drawn  by  one  man,  with  a 
lady  riding  in  it.  Yes,  and  there  are  two  or  three 
others  on  the  side  of  the  street  waiting  for  custom. 

It   is   an   unmistakable    English   jinrikisha !      The 


conclusion.  579 

construction,  however,  is  quite  different  from  those 
in  Japan. 

By  about  noon  we  reached  London — that  great 
city.  I  had  become  so  accustomed  to  seeing  strange 
places  that  I  had  lost  all  that  feeling  of  curiosity 
touched  by  a  sense  of  awe  which  I  used  to  feel  on  ap- 
proaching a  city  I  had  never  seen.  But  London — yes, 
I  must  confess  it — the  old  feeling  revived  as  we  ap- 
proached London. 

It  was  Saturday.  We  could  do  little  more  than 
go  to  2  Castle  Street,  City  Road,  get  our  mail,  hear 
the  church  news,  and  read  our  letters.  Sunday  Dr. 
Punshon  is  to  preach  at  City  Road  Chapel,  before 
the  Lord  Mayor.  The  English  have  their  own  way 
of  doing  things.  When  a  collection  is  needed  for 
some  charity,  they  invite  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London 
to  attend  the  service.  He  comes  in  state,  in  the  fine 
official  turn-out,  with  out-riders,  in  his  official  robes, 
bringing  the  insignia  of  office.  This  always  brings  a 
crowd. 

Sunday  morning  we  found  it  difficult  to  get  in. 
We  had  no  tickets.  When  the  Lord  Mayor  goes 
the  crowd  will  be  so  great  that  none  can  be  admitted 
without  a  ticket,  otherwise  the  rabble  would  crowd  in 
and  spoil  the  occasion.  By  dint  of  perseverance 
and  management,  however,  we  got  a  message  to  the 
pastor,  who  declared  he  was  violating  orders,  but  let 
us  in.  Soon  the  expected  dignitary  entered,  in  red 
robes,  with  his  attendants,  and  we  had  a  very  well- 
considered  and  polished  sermon — written. 

A  volume  the  size  of  this  might  be  filled  with  the 
account  of  what  we  saw  in  London — even  with  what 
we  saw  in.  the  British  Museum,  to  say  nothing  of  ail 


580  CONCLUSION. 

the  other  Museums.  Then  there  is  St.  Paul's,  and 
Westminster  Abbey,  and  Westminster  Palace  ;  the 
House  of  Commons — which  is  in  Westminster  Palace 
— the  Zoological  Garden,  Hyde  Park,  the  Thames 
and  all  its  bridges,  the  Inns  of  Court,  the  under- 
ground railroad,  and  all  the  other  railroads,  and — 
everything.  This  city  is  at  least  twice  as  large  as  any 
other  in  the  world.  Next  to  it  is  Paris.  We  used  to 
hear  that  China  and  Japan  had  the  greatest  cities. 
This  might  have  been  true  two  or  three  hundred 
years  ago,  but  it  is  not  so  now.  The  grow  th  of  Lon- 
don within  about  a  century  would  make  Paris.  It 
would  make  two  Pekins  or  Cantons,  or  three 
Tokios.  It  is  twenty  miles  across  it.  The  popula- 
tion is  4,000,000. 

The  commerce  of  Great  Britian  has  come  literally 
to  embrace  the  world,  and  on  the  great  thoroughfares 
you  can  find  no  hotel  where  the  English  language  is 
not  spoken.  English  thought  is  diffusing  itself  every- 
where. The  Union  Jack  goes  to  all  places  where 
there  is  water  sufficient  to  float  a  ship.  This  world- 
embracing  commerce  is  concentrated  at  London. 


APPENDIX 


DEATH  OF  BISHOP  MARVIN. 

N  SUNDAY,  November  19,  1877,  Bishop  Mar- 
vin addressed  the  members  of  one  of  the  Sun- 
day-schools in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  and  after- 
ward preached  a  sermon.  In  the  afternoon  of  the 
same  day  he  went  to  Kirkwood,  about  thirteen  miles 
west  of  the  city,  and  preached  a  sermon  and  dedi- 
cated a  church.  Soon  after  he  was  taken  with  a 
slight  chill,  but  was  not  seriously  incommoded  by  it. 
He  returned  home  the  next  morning,  and  during  the 
remainder  of  that  day  and  a  part  of  the  next  he  de- 
voted himself  to  the  work  of  finishing  the  manu- 
scripts of  the  last  chapter  of  his  book. 

He  had  completed  the  last  chapter,  but  had  not 
copied  it,  as  he  usually  did,  when  he  was  taken  with 
another  and  very  severe  chill,  and  was  compelled  to 
quit  work  and  retire  to  bed.  He  never  arose  again, 
except  to  enter  into  the  rest  prepared  for  the  good 
and  faithful  servants  of  the  Lord.  The  disease  was 
pleuro-pneumonia,  and  the  skill  of  the  physicians 
could  not  arrest  its  fatal  progress. 

Although  suffering  acutely,  he  continued  the 
supervision  of  the  proofs  of  his  book  until  Friday 
night,  when,  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  the  pub- 
lishers and  his  family,  who  realized  that  his  condi- 
tion was  critical,  he  abandoned  it.  The  matter  was 
then  completed  to  the  300th  page. 


582  APPENDIX. 

On  Saturday  and  until  in  the  afternoon  of  Sunday 
he  seemed  to  be  improving,  and  suffered  compara- 
tively little ;  but  this  was  only  the  beginning  of  the 
end. 

Sunday  evening  he  began  to  suffer  more  pain,  but 
the  physicians  were  hopeful  and  assured  the  mem- 
bers of  his  family  that  they  thought  his  symptoms 
were  better.  But  his  sufferings  increased,  and  abo-ut 
eleven  o'clock  Dr.  Newman,  the  family  physician, 
was  called  in  again.  Soon  after  he  entered  the  room, 
the  sufferer  addressed  him  and  said,  "I  think  you 
have  cause  to  be  alarmed,  from  the  shortness  of 
breathing."  The  symptoms  were  so  much  worse 
that  other  physicians  were  sent  for,  and  upon  their 
arrival  a  consultation  was  held.  As  they  were  retir- 
ing from  the  room  he  spoke  to  Dr.  Newman  and 
said,  "  Are  you  going  to  use  prompt  means  for  my 
relief?     I  can't  stand  this  another  night." 

Those  were  his  last  words,  uttered  a  few  minutes 
before  two  o'clock. 

The  physicians  left  soon  after,  intending  to  return 
at  eight  in  the  morning  for  further  consultation. 

Left  alone  with  his  family,  he  became  more  quiet, 
and  they  supposed  he  was  sleeping.  At  half  after 
three  he  drank  a  little  milk  which  his  wife  handed 
to  him,  but  did  not  raise  his  head  from  the  pillow, 
as  he  had  done  previously.  At  four  o'clock  they 
attempted  to  arouse  him  to  give  him  his  medicine, 
and  found  that  he  was  dying.  He  could  not  speak, 
but  apparently  remained  conscious  and  recognized 
the  members  of  his  family  until  the  very  last.  He 
ceased  breathing  at  fifteen  minutes  after  four  o'clock, 
and  ''fell  asleep"  without  a  struggle  or  a  sigh,  sur- 
rounded by  his  weeping  wife  and  children,  no  person 
except  the  members  of  his  family  being  present. 

His  last  sickness  and  death  were  as  remarkable  as 
his  career   through-     life   had    been.     He    had    just 


APPENDIX.  583 

returned  from  a  voyage  around  the  world,  during 
which,  like  St.  Paul,  he  had  been  in  perils  by  the 
sea,  in  perils  in  the  wilderness,  in  perils  of  robbers, 
and  in  perils  by  the  heathen,  to  return  home  and 
die  in  the  midst  of  his  family. 

He  had  ftuislied  his  work,  and  the  Master  called 
him  home. 

"  With  such  thoughts  I  bowed  my  head,  and 
reined  my  horse  northward  on  the  Damascus  road, 
following  slowly  after  my  companions,  who  had  gone 
on.  I  shall  never  see  this  city  again.  Shall  I  see 
the  Jerusalem  above?  God  grant  it  in  infinite 
mercy  !  " 

The  funeral  services  were  performed  in  Centenary 
Church,  St.  Louis,  on  Thursday  morning,  November 
29th — Thanksgiving  day  !  If  he  had  lived  he  would 
have  preached  the  sermon  in  that  church  on  that 
day.  The  coffin  was  conveyed  to  the  church  at  an 
early  hour  in  the  morning,  and  hundreds  of  friends 
from  both  city  and  country  availed  themselves  of  the 
opportunity  to  look  for  the  last  time  upon  the  be- 
loved features.  A  constant  stream  of  mourning 
friends  filed  by  the  coffin  until  the  commencement  of 
the  funeral  services.  The  features  were  as  natural 
as  in  life,  and  he  seemed  to  be  sleeping  peacefully. 
Every  portion  of  the  church  was  filled  to  overflow- 
ing, and  many  went  away  because  they  were  unable 
to  obtain  standing  room.  A  large  arm-chair,  draped 
in  mourning,  stood  on  the  rostrum,  with  the  letter 
"  M '  formed  in  evergreens,  resting  on  the  vacant 
seat.  Tears  involuntarily  suffused  hundreds  of  eyes 
as  they  rested  upon  this  mute  and  pathetic  reminder 
of  the  work  of  death. 

The  funeral  services  opened  with  Chopin's  Funeral 
March  on  the  church  organ,  by  Prof.  Kunkel,  the 
organist. 


584  APPENDIX. 

Rev.  J.  W.  Lewis   then  gave  out  the  hymn  com- 


mencing: 


"  What  though  the  arm  of  conquering  death 
Does  God's  own  house  invade?" 

The  hymn  was  sung  by  the  choir  and  congrega- 
tion. Rev.  T.  M.  Finney  next  read  the  nineteenth 
Psalm,  after  which  Rev.  Dr.  Tudor  read  the  fifteenth 
chapter  of  First  Corinthians.  "  The  Land  of 
Beulah,"  commencing, 

"  My  latest  sun  is  sinking  fast, 
My  race  is  uearly  run," 

was  next  sung  by  the  choir  and  congregation. 

The  funeral  sermon  was  preached  by  Bishop  H. 
N.  McTyeire,  of  Nashville,  who  gave  a  brief  history 
of  the  life  and  work  of  the  deceased.  The  sermon 
was  full  of  interest  and  thought,  and  more  than  once 
the  eyes  of  the  old  citizens  present,  who  had  known 
the  Bishop  for  years,  were  filled  with  tears. 

Rev.  Dr.  Kelley,  of  Nashville,  read  a  series  of  reso- 
lutions passed  on  the  death  of  Bishop  Marvin  by  the 
Board  of  Missions  at  Nashville  the  previous  Tues- 
day, and  followed  the  reading  with  a  few  remarks 
eulogistic  of  the  deceased,  speaking  of  him  first  as  a 
poet,  then  as  a  philosopher,  and  lastly  as  a  Christian. 
Rev.  E.  M.  Bounds,  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  read  the 
resolutions  adopted  at  the  pastors'  meeting  before 
the  services.  Rev.  J.  E.  Godbey  then  gave  out  the 
hymn  commencing : 

11  Thou  art  gone  to  the  grave, 
But  we  will  not  deplore  thee." 

Anotlier  prayer  was  offered,  and  the  services 
closed  with  Beethoven's  funeral  march  on  the  organ. 
The  congregation  remained  seated  until  the  rela- 
tives, pall  bearers,  clergymen  and  officers  of  the  sev- 
eral churches  had  passed  out  in  the  following  order: 

Bishop  McTyeire,  Revs.  Drs.  Lewis,  Browning  and 
Finney. 


APPENDIX.  585 

Ministers  of  the  St.  Louis  Conference. 

Pall  bearers,  Messrs.  R.  M.  Scruggs,  Samuel  Cup- 
pies,  Edward  Nennstiel,  C.  C.  Anderson,  J.  Boogher, 
Wm.  C.  Jamison,  J.  L.  Ferguson  and  D.   Jennings. 

Members  of  deceased's  family,  Mrs.  Marvin,  Field- 
ing Marvin,  and  Miss  Marcia  Marvin  and  her  three 
younger  sisters. 

Ministers  from  abroad. 

Members  of  the  official  board  of  the  First  M.  E. 
Church,  South,  Centenary  Church,  St.  John's  Church, 
Chouteau  Avenue  Church,  St.  Paul's  Church,  and 
Marvin  Mission. 

The  concluding  services  were  performed  at  the 
grave,  and  all  that  was  mortal  of  the  beloved  dead 
was  committed  to  the  earth  to  sleep  until  the  day  of 
the  resurrection. 

A  Memorial  Association  has  been  formed,  and  an 
appropriate  monument  will  be  erected  over  the  grave 
at  some  period  in  the  near  future. 


THE  CHOSEN  VESSEL. 

MEMORIAL     DISCOURSE     AT     THE     FUNERAL     OF     BISHOP 

MARVIN,  DELIVERED  IN  CENTENARY  CHURCH, 

ST.  LOUIS,  NOV.  29,    1877. 


BY  BISHOP   H.  N.  M  TYEIRE,  D.D. 


"Go  thy  way:  for  he  is  a  chosen  vessel  unto  me,  to  bear  my 
name  before  the  Gentiles,  and  kings,  and  the  children  of  Israel." 
— Acts  jx:  15. 

WYHESE  words  were  spoken  by  the  Lord  con- 
cerning one  who  was  to  be  a  minister  of  thq 
gospel;    and    very    laborious,    Jiieccwfiil,    and, 

|yidely«9xteQde<j  &&1  rninisfay  was  to  b<      The  <!<>- 


586  APPENDIX. 

vout,  but  timid,  Ananias  was  thereby  assured,  and 
went  to  the  man  who  was  formerly  a  persecutor,  but 
now  penitent  and  praying,  and  hailed  him  "brother." 

Afterward,  as  he  stood  before  kings,  Paul  told  his 
experience  of  conversion  and  a  call  to  preach,  and 
gave  the  terms  of  the  commission  he  received  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  who  met  him  in  the  way : 

"  For  I  have  appeared  unto  thee  for  this  purpose, 
to  make  thee  a  minister  and  a  witness  both  of  these 
things  which  thou  hast  seen,  and  of  those  things  in 
the  which  I  will  appear  unto  thee  ;  delivering  thee 
from  the  people,  and  from  the  Gentiles,  unto  whom 
now  I  send  thee — to  open  their  eyes,  and  to  turn 
them  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of 
Satan  unto  God,  that  they  may  receive  forgiveness 
of  sins,  and  inheritance  among  them  which  are  sanc- 
tified,by  faith  that  is  in  me."  Acts  xxvi :  16-18. 

Not  the  Apostles'  Creed,  but  the  Ministers'  Creed, 
this  may  be  called.  Herein  the  duties  of  the  minis- 
try are  itemized.  The  subject  has  a  double  aspect ; 
it  looks  to  the  people  as  well  as  to  the  preacher. 
They  are  interested  in  ascertaining  the  scope  of  the 
instructions  of  God's  embassador ;  for  what  he  is 
authorized  to  offer,  they  may  expect  to  receive. 

The  work  laid  out  here  is  such  as  every  minister 
of  Christ  may  do,  and  must  do,  if  he  make  full  proof 
of  his  ministry. 

To  open  their  eyes.  The  natural  man  is  blind — he 
perceives  not  spiritual  things.  The  carnal  eye  needs 
to  be  couched. 

To  turn  them  from  darkness  to  light.  The  open 
eye  must  be  stimulated  by  its  proper  element  :  light 
must  be  turned,  upon  sinners.  They  love  darkness 
rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds  are  evil.  Men 
will  sometimes  count  you  their  enemy  because  you 
tell  them  the  truth.  Ministerial  fidelity  has  often 
paid  this  penalty.     In  this  early  stage  of  it  persons 


APPENDIX.  587 

sometimes  mistake  their  experience — for  already  ex- 
perience— Christian  experience — has  begun.  Under 
the  hearing  of  the  word,  in  reading,  meditating,  and 
praying,  they  feel  that  they  are  getting  worse,  in- 
stead of  better.  This  is  not  what  they  had  promised 
themselves  in  the  use  of  the  means  of  grace,  and 
they  are  tempted  to  leave  them  off — they  are  going 
backward,  and  not  forward.  But  this  going  back- 
ward is  apparent,  not  real ;  they  are  moving  forward, 
and  in  the  right  direction.  A  dark  room  may  be 
thought  to  be  clean,  but  let  in  a  ray  of  light,  and  a 
thousand  motes  float  upon  a  single  beam.  The  light 
did  not  bring  them  in  ;  motes  were  there  before,  and 
the  light  only  reveals  them.  When  the  Spirit  shines 
into  the  soul,  self-righteousness  is  disturbed,  and  sin 
appears  exceeding  sinful.  Some  perverse  turns  may 
occur  here  in  the  awakened.  I  repeat  it,  Christian 
experience  has  begun,  and  the  penitent  have  a  right 
to  all  the  means  of  grace.  How  to  deal  with  those 
in  such  a  case,  the  Apostle  tells  : 

"  And  the  servant  of  the  Lord  must  not  strive  ; 
but  be  gentle  unto  all  men,  apt  to  teach,  patient,  in 
meekness  instructing  those  that  oppose  themselves  ; 
if  God  peradventure  will  give  them  repentance  to 
the  acknowledging  of  the  truth  ;  and  that  they  may 
recover  themselves  out  of  the  snare  of  the  devil,  who 
are  taken  captive  by  him  at  his  will."  II  Tim.  ii : 
24-26. 

From  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God.  The  under- 
standing may  be  informed,  but  beyond  speculation 
lies  conflict.  Xow  comes  in  a  potential  element — 
the  power  of  Satan.  This  is  no  figure  of  speech. 
There  is  such  a  power.  In  Christ's  kingdom  and  in 
Paul's  preaching,  Satan  is  no  myth.  There  is  such 
an  adversary — he  has  "  devices,"  "wiles"  ;  he  seeks 
and  avails  his  cause  of  all  "  advantages."  Never 
willingly  and  without   struggle  does   he  let  go  any 


583  APPENDIX. 

soul  that  would  escape  to  peace,  purity,  liberty,  and 
heaven.  His  captives  know  not  the  power,  until  they 
would  break  from  it. 

How  sad  our  state  by  nature  is, 

Our  sin,  how  deep  it  stains, 
And  Satau  binds  our  captive  souls 

Fast  iu  his  slavish  chains. 

But  He  that  is  for  us  is  greater  than  he  that  is 
against  us.  Herein  is  hope — that  Jesus  Christ  was 
manifested  "to  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil." 
Though  the  enemy  should  fortify  his  position  in 
fallen  man  by  evil  habits,  by  wicked  associations, 
by  illicit  business,  or  domestic  complications — by 
every  advantage — yet  there  is  hope.  Jesus,  in  antic- 
ipation of  his  trumph  for  every  soul  that  cries  to 
him  for  help,  said :  "  When  a  strong  man  armed 
keepeth  his  palace,  his  goods  are  in  peace ;  but 
when  a  stronger  man  than  he  shall  come  upon  him, 
and  overcome  him,  he  taketh  from  him  all  his  armor 
wherein  he  trusted,  and  divideth  his  spoils." 

It  is  here  that  most  fail,  who  do  fail.  They  are 
enlightened,  awakened — and  following  their  convic- 
tions, they  desire  to  be  Christians,  and  set  about  it. 
Hearing,  thinking,  reflecting,  must  be  followed  by 
acting ;  something  must  be  done.  Resistance  is 
encountered ;  the  battle  is  joined  with  the  foe, 
mighty,  though  invisible,  and  they  fall  back.  "  Strive 
to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate  :  for  many,  I  say  unto 
you,  will  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall  not  be  able." 
Who  ever  listened  to  the  narrative  of  the  humblest 
disciple,  detailing  the  dealings  of  God  with  his  soul, 
without  having  the  pulse  quicken  at  this  passage  of 
experience  ?  This  is  felt  to  be  the  crisis.  There 
was  war  in  heaven  when  "  Michael  and  his  angels 
fought  against  the  dragon  ;  and  the  dragon  fought, 
and  his  angels,  and  prevailed  not."  And  there  is 
war  on  every  spot  of  earth  where  a  soul  is  converted 


APPENDIX.  589 

"  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God."  Many  an 
obscure  conventicle,  many  a  lonely  place  of  wrest- 
ling prayer,  has  been  the  scene  of  sublimer  conflict 
than  the  Iliad  records.  More  was  at  stake — more 
was  lost  or  won — mightier  forces  and  destinies  were 
involved,  than  in  the  grandest  earthly  epic. 

That  tJiey  may  receive  forgiveness  of  sins.  After 
night  comes  the  morning ;  after  the  conflict,  peace. 
God  never  said  to  any,  "  Seek  ye  me  in  vain."  His 
offer  of  salvation  is  genuine — not  willing  that  any 
should  perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to  repent- 
ance. If  you  have  received  the  grace  of  repentance, 
that  is  a  pledge  of  the  grace  of  pardon  if  you  will 
follow  on  to  know  the  Lord.  Jesus  commanded 
that  "  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be 
preached  in  his  name  among  all  nations."  These 
two  go  together.  He  does  not  mock  men  with  a 
discovery  of  their  guilt  and  danger,  and  leave  them 
in  despair.  If  he  means  not  to  forgive  any  man, 
then  that  man  is  forewarned  of  his  doom  by  finding 
no  place  for  repentance.  "  If  our  gospel  be  hid,  it  is 
hid  to  them  that  are  lost." 

Forgiveness  of  sins.  There  are  many  names  for  it 
in  the  Bible — pardon,  blotting  out  transgressions, 
washing  them  out — casting  our  sins  behind  his  back 
— remembering  them  no  more — putting  away 
iniquity.  "  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  His  Son 
cleanseth  us  from  all  sin,"  how  great  or  how  many 
soever.  "  Come,  now,  and  let  us  reason  together, 
saith  the  Lord:  though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they 
shall  be  as  white  as  snow;  though  they  be  red  like 
crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool." 

Forgiveness  is  an  act  which  takes  place  in  the 
mind  of  God.  Shall  the  soul  which  has  been  the 
object  of  this  act  of  grace  be  kept  in  ignorance  of  it? 
Then  that  must  be  an  unhappy  soul  still — fearful 
and  miserable,  though  pardoned! 


590  APPENDIX. 

The  work  of  mercy  is  not  an  imperfect  scheme. 
Provision  is  made  for  our  comfort  as  well  as  our 
safety.  Hear  the  words  of  Paul :  "  There  is  there- 
fore now  no  condemnation  to  them  which  are  in 
Christ  Jesus,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after 
the  Spirit.  .  .  .  For  ye  have  not  received  the  spirit 
of  bondage  again  to  fear ;  but  ye  have  received  the 
Spirit  of  adoption,  whereby  we  cry,  Abba,  Father. 
The  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness  w  th  our  spirit,  that 
we  are  the  children  of  God."  There  is  an  inward 
impression  on  the  soul  whereby  the  Spirit  of  God 
immediately  and  directly  witnesses :  Thou  art  a 
child  of  God  ;  Jesus  hath  loved  thee,  and  given  him- 
self for  thee ;  all  thy  sins  are  blotted  out,  and  thou, 
even  thou,  art  reconciled  to  God. 

An  inheritance  among  them  which  are  sanctified. 
With  forgiveness  of  sin  comes  the  renewing  of  the 
heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  soul  saved  from  the 
guilt  of  sin  is  not  left  under  the  power  of  it,  and  in 
love  with  it.  It  is  changed,  as  well  as  pardoned. 
Justification  is  what  God  does  for  us,  for  the  merit  of 
his  Son:  sanctification  is  what  he  does  in  us,  by  the 
power  of  his  Spirit.  The  fruit  of  the  Spirit  begins  to 
appear — love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness, 
goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance.  And  this 
work  of  grace  goes  on  "  unto  perfection  " — this  trans- 
formation, by  the  renewing  of  the  mind,  seeks  its 
completeness  in  the  likeness  of  Christ. 

One  of  the  initial  forces  of  the  great  revival  of  the 
eighteenth  century  was  the  discovery,  by  John  Wes- 
ley and  some  other  young  men  reading  the  Greek 
Testament,  that  sanctification  follows  justification — 
not  precedes  it,  as  they  had  been  taught.  And  so 
these  two  stand  related  in  the  text — the  order  of  its 
parts,  as  I  conceive,  being  of  the  essence  of  its 
teaching. 

How  complete  is  the  gospel !     It  is  no  half-system 


APPENDIX.  591 

of  salvation.  See  where  it  finds  the  sinner — blind 
and  groping  in  darkness,  guilty  and  condemned,  and 
under  malignant  power.  It  opens  his  eyes,  brings 
him  into  marvelous  light,  recovers  him  out  of  the 
snare  of  the  devil;  he  is  justified,  washed,  and  ad- 
vanced to  an  inheritance  among  the  sanctified.  Talk 
of  development!  There  is  more  development  here 
than  in  this  boastful  nineteenth  century. 

A  slave  of  Satan,  now  becomes  a  child  of  God! 
Hell  escaped,  and  heaven  gained  ;  what  a  wonder ! 
From  what  depths  of  degradation  to  what  heights  of 
glory  !  There  were  six  steps  to  Solomon's  throne  : 
there  are  but  five  to  heaven.  The  gospel  reaches 
down  to  the  lowest  estate  of  man  :  it  lifts  him  to  a 
level  with  angels.     And  all  this — 

By  faith  that  is  in  me.  If  by  works,  we  never 
could  make  it ;  if  by  merit,  we  never  could  win  it. 
The  God-man  has  undertaken  for  us,  and  therefor?  it 
can  be  done,  and  done  now.  "  Such  wonders  power 
divine  effects."  To-day  if  you  will  hear  his  voice 
you  may  live,  passing  through  every  stage  of  this 
mighty  process.  It  is  possible,  in  the  economy  of 
grace,  for  a  sinner  who  has  entered  the  house  this 
hour,  blind  and  in  darkness,  if  he  will  yield  himselt 
to  the  Spirit's  influences,  to  go  down  to  his  house 
justified. 

As  there  is  no  room  for  despair,  neither  is  there 
any  for  pride  here.  The  redeemed  soul,  looking 
down  from  the  highest  realm  of  glory  "  to  the 
hole  of  the  pit  whence  he  was  digged,"  must  for 
ever  remember  that  he  rose,  every  round  of  the  lad- 
der, by  faith  in  Jesus's  name.  All  is  of  grace ;  and 
by  faith,  that  it  may  be  of  grace. 

No  minister,  called  of  God  to  the  office,  has  a  par- 
tial commission.  He  may  be  instrumental  in  the 
whole  salvation  of  a  soul.  When  it  is  said  of  one 
that  he  excels  as  an  awakening  preacher — of  anotherf 


592  APPENDIX. 

that  he  leads  penitents  to  Christ — of  another,  that  he 
deals  with  the  deep  things  of  the  inner  life — let  not 
this  be  understood  to  the  exclusion  of  any  vital  func- 
tion of  the  Christian  ministry.  All  of  it  is  committed 
to  each.  The  whole  gamut  of  the  gospel  is  here. 
He  that  preaches  repentance  is  not  called  on  to  stop 
there.  Neither  is  there  one  class  preaching  on  justi- 
fication, and  another  on  sanctification.  Such  minute 
subdivision  conduces  not  to  wholesome  teaching  or 
to  well-proportioned  growth  in  the  divine  life.  This 
is  the  legitimate  scope  and  fruit  of  the  ministry. 
Men  are  moved  to  it  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  sent 
forth — in  all  things  approving  themselves  as  the  min- 
isters of  God;  "as  poor,  yet  making  many  rich." 

The  highest  blessing  and  welfare  of  the  world  is 
committed  to  their  keeping.  "  But  we  have  this 
treasure  in  earthen  vessels" — 

And  the  weak  sons  of  mortal  race, 
TV  immortal  gift  convey. 

Some  of  these  vessels  may  well  be  called  "  chosen" 
— most  fit  and  well-adapted — "  vessels  unto  honor, 
sanctified  and  meet  for  the  Master's  use,  and  pre- 
pared unto  every  good  work." 

Such  was  our  brother,  whose  Memorial  Service 
we  hold  this  day.  How  fully,  and  faithfully,  and 
successfully,  he  carried  out  all  the  parts  of  this  min- 
istry ye  are  witnesses,  and  the  whole  Church.  By 
his  preaching  sinners  were  convicted,  mourners  com- 
forted, believers  edified,  and  much  people  was  added 
unto  the  Lord.  Whether  in  explaining  the  princi- 
ples of  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  or  in  dealing  with  its 
deepest  problems— its  mysteries — rhe  was  a  work^ 
man  that  needeth  not  to  be  ashamed.  It  was  hard 
to  say  whether  he  excelled  in  clearness  of  exegesis, 
or  in  the  warmth  and  home-bearing  force  of  exhorta^ 
tion,  Childfen  loved  him,  and  he  walked  with  wise 
men  aa  theif  companion     He.  possessed  rhe  pbflpsp 

V 


APPENDIX.  593 

phic  faculty  and  poetical  sensibility  in  high  combi- 
nation. He  was  grave  without  austerity,  and  genial 
without  levity.  He  was  mighty  in  prayer,  and  not 
denied  the  gift  of  song.  In  the  power  of  drawing 
hearts  to  him,  in  personal  magnetism,  I  have  not 
known  his  superior  among  men.  He  was,  indeed,  "  a 
chosen  vessel."     But  now  all  broken  it  lies  before  us  ! 

The  watchful  eye  in  darkness  closed, 
And  mute  th'  instructive  t  >ngue. 

A  few  leading  facts  in  his  personal  history  and 
traits  of  character  may  fitly  close  this  memorial  of 
Bishop  Marvin. 

Under  date  of  "  15th  April,  1635,"  an  official  Eng- 
lish record  shows  that  the  Marvyn  family  were  regis- 
tered to  "imbarque  in  the  ship  Increase,  Robert  Lea, 
Master,  to  New  England."  Matthew  and  Reinold 
Marvin,  two  brothers,  were  among  the  original  set- 
tlers of  Hartford,  Conn.  Reinold  moved  to  Say- 
brook,  and  his  will  is  recorded  among  the  Colony 
Records,  in  which  he  directs  that  to  each  of  his 
grandchildren  "there  be  provided  and  given  a  Bible 
as  soon  as  they  are  capable  of  using  them."  Of  this 
family  there  were  Church-deacons — captains  and 
lieutenants  in  the  Indian  wars  and  in  the  Colonial 
army — and  representatives  in  the  General  Court. 
They  held  good  positions  as  intelligent  and  useful 
citizens,  of  fine  social  qualities.  The  great-grandson 
of  this  Reinold,  Elisha  Marvin,  was  born  in  Lyme, 
Conn.,  1717,  and  died  in  1801.  He  married  Catha- 
rine Mather,  daughter  of  Timothy,  who  was  a  mem. 
ber  of  the  celebrated  Cotton  Mather  family.  Cotton 
Mather,  D.D?,  surpassed  even  his  father  Increase  in 
learning  and  industry.  In  one  year  he  preached 
seventy-two  sermons,  kept  sixty  fasts  and  twenty 
vigils,  and  wrote  fourteen  books,  flis  publications 
amount  to  three  hundred  and  eighty  two—some  of 
*hem  volumimM.-. '    He*  died  in  1728,  with  thr.  repute 


594  APPENDIX. 

tion  of  having  been  the  greatest  scholar  and  author 
America  had  then  produced.  Enoch,  son  of  Elisha 
Marvin,  was  born  in  1747.  He  married  Ruth  Ely, 
and  removed  to  Berkshire,  Mass.,  where  his  son, 
Wells  Ely,  was  born.  In  18 17  he  came  to  Missouri 
with  his  son,  and  died  in  1 841.  Wells  Ely  Marvin 
married  a  lady  whose  ancestors  were  Welsh,  and  had 
settled  in  Missouri  the  same  year  with  himself.  He 
made  his  home  in  Warren  county,  built  a  double-log 
cabin,  after  the  best  fashion  of  those  times,  and  cov- 
ered it  with  clapboards  weighted  down  with  poles. 
There  Enoch  Mather  Marvin,  his  third  child,  was 
born,  June  12,  1823. 

Wells  Ely  Marvin  was  not  a  member  of  any 
Church.  He  died  Dec.  30,  1856,  and  was  buried 
in  the  family  grave-yard,  on  the  home-place.  His 
wife  was  a  devout  woman,  and  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  Church.  She  instructed  her  children  in  the 
principles  of  Christianity  from  the  earliest  moment 
that  they  could  comprehend  her  words.  She  taught 
school  in  a  small  house  that  was  built  for  the  pur- 
pose in  the  yard,  and  there  she  imparted  to  her  own 
children,  and  the  youth  of  the  neighborhood,  the 
elements  of  an  English  education.  She  died  Jan.  I, 
1858. 

Enoch  Mather  joined  the  Methodist  Church  in 
August,  1839,  as  a  seeker  of  religion,  and  not  until 
December,  1840,  was  he  satisfied  that  he  had 
received  Torgiveness  of  sins.  A  tract  on  Baptism, 
by  the  Rev.  Peter  Doub,  of  North  Carolina,  had 
fallen  into  his  hands,  and  determined  his  opinion  on 
the  questions  between  Immersionists  and  Pedobap- 
tists. 

How  he  valued  his  Church-membership  may  be 
gathered  from  a  passage  in  one  of  his  best  sermons 
— "Christ  and  the  Church:"  "Soon  after  I  had 
pnited  with   the   Church   I  had. an  experience  I  am 


appendix.  595 

sure  I  can  never  forget.  I  was  in  the  saddle,  on  the 
Lord's  day,  on  my  way  to  a  social  meeting  in  the 
country.  The  aspects  of  the  autumn  scenery  are  as 
distinct  in  my  memory  as  if  it  had  been  only  yester- 
day ;  the  warm  sun  lay  upon  the  mottled  foliage,  and 
there  seemed  the  hush  of  a  hallowed  peace  upon  the 
face  of  nature.  All  at  once  the  thought  came  to  me 
— '  I  am  in  the  Church,  and  it  is  in  my  power  now, 
by  my  unholy  living,  to  bring  a  blot  on  the  Church, 
and  to  dishonor  the  Saviour.'  For  a  time  the  reflec- 
tion seemed  insupportable ;  it  was  almost  more  than 
I  could  bear." 

He  was  licensed  to  preach  in  1841,  and  that  year 
was  admitted  on  trial  into  the  Missouri  Conference. 
In  1843  ne  was  ordained  deacon,  and  elder  in  1845. 
This  year  he  was  married  to  her  who,  with  her 
children,  mourns  their  loss  and  ours.  How  much 
that  event  contributed  to  his  happiness  and  to  his 
ministerial  success,  read  that  unique  and  delicate 
tribute  to  his  wife,  in  the  Dedication  of  his  late  book 
of  Sermons,  and  you  will  know.  After  doing  mis- 
sion, circuit,  and  station  work,  in  1852  he  was  made 
Presiding  Elder  of  St.  Charles  District;  in  1854,  '55, 
was  Agent  for  St.  Charles  College,  and  succeeded  in 
raising  a  helpful  endowment  fund,  which  is  one  of 
the  very  few  of  that  date  that  survives  among  us. 
He  was  next  appointed  to  the  pastoral  charge  of 
this  Church,  and  afterward  to  others  in  St.  Louis, 
until  1862. 

During  this  pastorate  of  Centenary  Church  oc- 
curred an  event  which  drew  upon  him  public  atten- 
tion beyond  the  circle  of  his  Conference.  His  ordi- 
nation vow  obliged  him  to  "be  ready,  with  all  faith- 
ful diligence,  to  banish  and  drive  away  all  erroneous 
and  strange  doctrines,  contrary  to  God's  word."  In 
the  autumn  of  1859  a  priest  of  the  Roman  Church 
commenced  in  the  city  a  course  of  lectures  on  ques- 


596  APPENDIX. 

tions  at  issue  between  Romanism  and  Protestantism. 
These  lectures  were  widely  circulated  by  means  of 
their  publication  in  the  Missouri  Republican.  The 
propriety  of  meeting  the  attack  was  felt,  and  the 
pastor  of  Centenary  Church  began  a  series  of  replies, 
which  ran  into  twenty-three  lectures.  They  had  a 
crowded  hearing,  and,  through  the  columns  of  the 
Republican,  a  wide  reading.  Protestants  welcomed, 
with  increasing  applause  to  the  last  lecture,  his  able 
defense  of  the  faith  ;  and  the  public  verdict  would 
have  been  flattering  to  an  older  polemic.  Thus  came 
his  first  book,  Marvin's  Lectures,  a  l2mo,  of  333 
pages.  His  book  on  The  Work  of  Christ,  issued  a 
few  years  ago,  deals  in  the  highest  reaches  of  Chris- 
tain  thought.  A  biographical  tribute  to  a  true  yoke- 
fellow and  colaborer,  Life  of  Caples,  gave  occasion 
for  utterance  of  some  of  his  best  thoughts,  uncon- 
sciously revealing  himself  to  us,  as  well  as  the  friend 
who  was  the  theme  of  his  book.  The  Church  has 
lately  given  hearty  welcome  to  a  volume  of  his 
Sermons — now  in  the  second  edition — the  more 
prized  because  we  shall  hear  him  no  more.  His 
Addresses  and  Sermons  before  Annual  Conferences 
and  on  other  occasions,  have  more  than  once  been 
called  for  in  print ;  and  a  few  have  appeared.  The 
last  literary  work  he  did  was  to  prepare  for  the  press 
his  Letters  of  Travel  Round  the  World. 

The  wonder  is,  where  he  got  his  learning,  and 
how.  Such  minds  will  have  knowledge — it  cannot 
be  denied  to  them.  He  had  studied  our  theological 
standards  thoroughly  ;  was  well  read  in  general  his- 
tory ;  he  had  tasted  of  scientific  books — touched  on 
metaphysics — gone  a  little  into  Latin,  and  got 
enough  of  Greek  to  conduct  him  through  a  criticism. 
His  style,  both  in  speaking  and  writing,  was  excep- 
tionally fluent  and  perspicuous,  often  rising  into 
elegance  and  eloquence.     One  is  tempted  to  say,  as 


Appendix.  59/ 

Jeffrey  did  to  Macaulay,  when  acknowledging  the 
receipt  of  the  manuscript  of  his  first  Essay  for  the 
Edinbiirg  Review,  "  The  more  I  think,  the  less  I  can 
conceive,  where  you  picked  up  that  style." 

A  turning  point  of  life  was  his  leaving  St.  Louis 
early  in  1862.  In  the  war  between  the  States  he 
was  with  the  South,  and  it  was  necessary  for  him  to 
leave.  He  acted  as  chaplain  to  armies  in  Arkansas 
and  Texas,  preaching  to  the  soldiers  in  camp  and  on 
the  march,  and  ministering  to  them  in  hospitals. 
Many  conversions  took  place  under  his  preaching, 
and  he  became  more  widely  known  as  a  preacher 
and  a  man  than  otherwise  he  would  have  been. 
About  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  put  in  pastoral 
charge  of  the  Church  in  Marshall,  Texas,  and  there, 
after  long  separation,  he  was  rejoined  by  his  family. 
The  power  and  unction  of  his  preaching,  and  his 
social  excellence,  caused  him  to  be  known  and 
spoken  of  favorably;  and  long  before  the  General 
Conference  met  at  New  Orleans,  in  the  spring  of 
1866,  the  preachers  and  people  of  the  South-west 
and  the  Transmississippi  Department  had  made  up 
their  minds  that  when  new  Bishops  were  made  this 
Missourian  must  be  one.  He  was  elected  on  the 
first  ballot,  receiving  73  out  of  144  votes.  Not  being 
a  member  of  the  body,  he  was  not  present.  He 
delayed  his  coming  until  the  election  of  Bishops 
was  over — for  he  knew  he  had  been  talked  of  in  that 
connection,  and  was  sensitive  about  even  the  appear- 
ance of  personal  influence. 

Of  the  manner  in  which  he  has  discharged  the 
duties  of  the  Episcopal  Office  the  bereaved  Church, 
in  tears  this  day  from  Oregon  to  Florida,  testifies. 
I  was  visiting  the  Memphis  Conference  last  Monday 
when  the  telegram  was  received  announcing  Bishop 
Marvin's  death.  That  large  body  was  in  earnest  ses- 
sion,   and   an   eminent    speaker   was   on   the    floor. 


59&  APPENDIX. 

Instantly  the  crowded  house  was  turned  into  a 
Bochim — a  place  of  weeping.  In  labors  abundant, 
he  knew  but  one  limit  of  endeavor — the  Pauline 
measure — "As  much  as  in  me  is."  If  ever  he 
showed  brusqueness  of  manner,  to  my  knowledge,  it 
was  on  being  expostulated  with  for  overworking. 
Sometimes  he  seemed  to  lift  his  words  in  preaching, 
so  exhausted  was  he.  Nor  was  it  in  mere  labor  and 
travel  that  he  was  eminent :  he  planned,  he  enter- 
prised,  for  the  Church.  His  first  Episcopal  tour 
took  in  the  Indian  Nation.  The  Cherokee,  Choctaw, 
Chickasaw,  and  Creek  Indians,  had  been  impover- 
ished more  than  any  other  people.  Both  armies  had 
preyed  on  them,  and  their  attitude  had  not  made 
the  Federal  Government  propitious.  The  people 
were  near  starvation ;  and  as  for  our  Indian  preach- 
ers— the  case  seemed  hopeless.  Could  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Conference  be  kept  up?  Some  suggested 
disbanding.  The  Missionary  Board,  burdened  with 
debt,  had  not  been  able  to  make  them  any  appropri- 
ation. He  met  the  emergency.  The  Conference 
was  held,  and  the  preachers  appointed  to  their  cir- 
cuits. He  then  drew  on  himself  for  $5,000,  in  quar- 
terly installments,  to  support  them — and  when  his 
routine  of  official  work  was  done,  he  spent  the  winter 
traveling  through  the  Church  at  large,  pleading  the 
cause  of  the  Indians,  and  putting  money  into  the 
empty  treasury  to  meet  his  drafts.  He  saved  our 
Indian  Mission  Conference — and  this  act  signalized 
his  first  year  in  the  Episcopacy. 

Before  the  overland  railroad  was  completed,  the 
Pacific  work  fell  to  him.  He  went  out  by  the  Isth- 
mus, held  two  sessions  of  the  Conferences  there,  and 
returned  by  the  completed  railroad  to  his  home  in 
St.  Louis,  after  seventeen  months'  absence.  In  two 
visitations  to  our  farthest  West  I  have  been  able  to 
find  few  places  where  Bishop  Marvin  had  not  been. 


APPENDIX.  599 

Many  paths  he  alone  has    traveled.     Everywhere  his 
name  was  as  ointment  poured  forth. 

The  General  Conference  instructed  the  College  of 
Bishops  to  send  out  one  of  their  number  to  ordain 
our  native  preachers  in  China,  and  to  set  in  order  our 
Mission  there;  and  besides  this,  the  need  of  a  general 
reconnoissance  of  the  missionary-field  of  the  East  was 
felt,  as  a  guide  for  missionary  operations.  "  Here 
am  I ;  send  me ! '  was  the  response  of  our  brother, 
when  the  question  came  up  in  the  College  of  Bish- 
ops, last  May  a  year  ago.  How  well  he  discharged 
that  trust  is  known  and  read  of  all.  After  holding 
the  Conferences  in  Colorado  and  California  he  was 
met  at  San  Francisco,  in  October,  by  a  congenial 
fellow-traveler — the  Rev.  E.  R.  Hendrix,  of  Missouri 
— and  being  recommended  by  the  brethren,  in  a  fare- 
well-meeting, unto  the  grace  of  God,  they  departed. 
Going  out  through  the  gates  of  the  West,  he  returned 
through  the  gates  of  the  East — having  made  a  tour 
round  the  world.  His  letters,  penned  on  junk  and 
shipboard,  or,  at  the  end  of  a  day's  ride,  in  his  tent, 
have  made  an  epoch  in  the  missionary-spirit  of  the 
Church.  Doubtless  his  thoughtful  and  well-detailed 
outline  of  plan,  and  scheme,  and  occupation  of 
heathen  outposts,  will  guide  the  operations  of  our 
Board  for  years  to  come.  With  his  compagiwn  de 
voyage,  he  represented  Southern  Methodism  most 
worthily  before  that  venerable  assembly,  the  British 
Wesleyan  Conference,  in  its  one  hundred  and  forty- 
fourth  session,  July  and  August  last,  at  Bristol. 

That  circuit  of  the  globe  gave  a  fitting  period  to 
his  labor;  it  rounded  off  his  life  well.  It  was  a  sur- 
vey in  the  cause  of  his  Master  and  for  the  extension 
of  his  kingdom.  The  bed  of  his  mind  was  deepened 
by  it ;  his  heart  was  enlarged  ;  the  fervor  of  his 
spirit  was  increased.  To  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth    he    measured    the    promised  inheritance,  ancj 


600  APPENDIX. 

instead  of  being  appalled  at  its  extent  and  difficul- 
ties, he  encouraged  the  Church  that  we  are  fully 
able  to  possess  it.  More  than  ever  the  world 
redeemed  was  on  his  heart — he  took  it  all  in,  and 
claimed  it  for  Christ.  He  realized  intensely  the 
necessity  and  possibility  of  its  conversion  to  God. 
As  he  went  he  preached — on  the  Pacific  seas,  in 
Japan,  in  China,  in  India,  in  Egypt,  in  Jerusalem,  in 
Athens,  on  the  Red  Sea,  on  the  Mediterranean,  on 
the  Atlantic. 

To  him,  as  to  a  "chosen  vessel,"  it  was  permitted 
to  bear  the  name  of  the  Master  to  the  crowded  cities 
and  popular  centers  of  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf  States, 
and  Mississippi  Valley — to  the  red  man  and  to  the 
black — to  the  scattered  settlers  on  the  Western 
plains  and  Territories,  and  finally  to  every  continent. 
And  that  name  was  the  burden  of  his  message.  He 
delighted  to  dwell  on  the  nature  and  offices  of  Christ 
— his  atonement  and  intercession — his  glorified 
humanity,  and  the  future  state  where  his  people 
should  see  him  as  he  is,  and  be  like  him.  With 
variety  of  expression  and  wealth  of  illustration,  he 
showed  the  wrork  of  Christ.  No  matter  what  the 
text — especially  of  late  years — his  mind  gravitated 
to  this  theme.     Jesus  was  the  name  high  over  all. 

A  year  from  the  day  he  left  home  for  his  great 
tour  he  returned,  and  was  happy  again  in  the  bosom 
of  his  family.  An  accumulated  correspondence 
having  been  disposed  of,  he  began  his  round  of 
Annual  Conferences  the  last  week  in  August.  His 
colleagues,  in  apportioning  their  work  (that  he  might 
be  near  home),  had  assigned  him  the  Episcopal 
District  which  included  the  Missouri  and  bordering 
Conferences.  In  their  plan  a  rest  had  been  laid  in 
the  midst  of  the  sessions  ;  but  for  reasons  doubtless 
in  themselves  good,  brethren  desired  a  change  in 
lime,  and   to  this,  unselfishly  hut.   unwisely,  he  con- 


APPENDIX.  60 I 

sented.  After  holding  the  Western,  at  Atchison,  he 
came  back  and  held  the  St.  Louis  Conference  ;  then 
on  to  Fulton,  presiding  over  the  Missouri  Confer- 
ence. The  last  days  of  its  session  were  very  heavy 
to  him  on  account  of  the  death  of  his  only  brother. 
Though  but  a  day's  journey  distant,  he  had  not  time 
to  look  upon  the  dead  face — hurrying  on  to  the 
Choctaw  Nation,  for  the  Indian  Mission  Conference  ; 
that  over,  he  went  to  Independence,  to  preside  over 
the  Southwest  Missouri  Conference.  Five  Annual 
Conferences  in  five  weeks.  Too  much,  even  for  a 
strong  man.  At  the  close  of  this  tour  his  nervous 
system  was  prostrate. 

I  know  not  another  assembly  the  presidency  over 
which  is  so  exhausting  as  an  Annual  Conference. 
The  Bishop  in  the  chair,  during  the  day,  is  not  bur- 
dened ;  but  when  the  Conference  adjourns  he  meets 
the  Presiding  Elders,  to  map  out  the  work  and  con- 
sult on  the  Appointments.  The  wants  of  people  and 
preachers  are  canvassed,  and  more  than  wants — fit- 
nesses and  possible  arrangements  for  the  greatest 
good  to  the  greatest  number.  The  "Cabinet'' 
adjourns,  sometimes  at  a  late  hour,  but  there  is  no 
pause  for  him.  He  lies  down  and  rises  up  with  this 
care  of  all  the  Churches — the  tension  is  continuous. 
Nor  is  relief  always  brought  by  the  announcement  of 
Appointments  and  adjournment  sine  die.  The  hard- 
est things  to  bear  sometimes  follow  after — the  dis- 
satisfaction of  some  who  take  hasty  and  partial  views 
of  the  work  done. 

At  home  again,  he  may  recuperate ;  for  not  until 
Dec.  5  does  his  next  and  last  Conference  convene — 
the  Mississippi.  He  is  writing,  or  revising,  final 
chapters  of  his  book.  Churches  are  to  be  dedicated, 
and  his  services  are  in  demand  for  other  meetings. 
Sunday,  a  week  ago,  he  preached  in  this  pulpit. 
You  remember  the  text: — 


602  APPENDIX. 

"  Blessed  are  they  that  do  his  commandments, 
that  they  may  have  right  to  the  tree  of  life,  and  may 
enter  in  through  the  gates  into  the  city." 

Before  sermon  he  met  with  the  Sunday-school, 
and  made  an  address  to  the  children.  Taking  a 
hasty  lunch  after  preaching,  he  was  off  to  Kirkwood 
to  dedicate  the  new  church  at  three  o'clock — preach- 
ing on,  "And  I  saw  no  temple  therein;  for  the  Lord 
God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb  are  the  temple  of  it" 
— the  line  of  thought  going  to  show  why  we  need 
temples  of  worship  here,  and  of  what  use  they  are  to 
the  Church  in  the  world ;  though,  in  that  better 
country  where  all  is  consecrated  ground,  there  is 
none. 

It  was  his  last  sermon.  That  night  he  had  a  slight 
chill,  but  returned  home  Monday  morning,  and  made 
no  mention  of  it  to  his  family.  Monday  evening, 
with  his  wife,  was  spent  at  a  friend's  house,  and  he 
was  even  more  cheerful  than  usual.  Tuesday  morn- 
ing he  made  an  engagement  to  visit  the  Orphan 
Asylum,  and  talk  to  the  inmates.  That  night  a 
heavy  chill  came  on.  He  told  them  he  had  not  suf- 
fered so  for  years.  The  pain  in  the  side  soon  in- 
volved the  lungs.  Domestic  treatment  availing  not, 
he  consented  for  the  family  physician  to  be  called. 
Thursday  he  had  some  proof-sheets  read  to  him. 
Coming  in,  on  this,  his  physician  positively  inter- 
dicted all  work.  Saturday  he  dictated  to  his  daugh- 
ter notes  to  Bishop  Keener  and  myself  about  attend- 
ing his  Conference.  He  complained  of  his  breathing. 
A  consultation  was  called,  and  the  case  was  thought 
not  so  bad  if  there  were  any  thing  to  build  upon. 
Sunday  morning  he  inquired  of  his  wife,  "Is  not  this 
the  Lord's-day?"  Upon  being  answered  in  the 
affirmative — "  Have  the  children  gone  to  Sunday- 
school?"  That  evening  he  said  to  the  Doctor,  "I 
think  you  have  cause  to  be  alarmed ;  I  cannot  go 
through  another  such  night."     His  physicians  were 


APPENDIX.  603 

with  him  at  midnight.  His  wife  observed  he  was 
breathing  heavily;  but  that  was  not  unusual  with  him 
when  lying  on  his  back,  and  hoping  he  would  get 
some  rest  in  sleep,  she  did  not  interrupt  him.  At 
four  o'clock  she  offered  him  the  prescribed  medicine. 
He  could  not  be  aroused  !  She  called  her  son  and 
the  family,  but  he  waked  to  consciousness  no  more. 
In  fifteen  minutes  he  was  dead. 

There  were  no  last  words,  no  messages,  no  allu- 
sions at  any  time  to  his  departure  as  being  at  hand. 
We  must  take  his  life  for  that.  "And  Enoch  walk- 
ed with  God  and  he  was  not;  for  God  took  him." 

Dividing  the  years  of  his  life  into  three  parts,  just 
two-thirds  were  spent  in  direct  effort  for  the  salva- 
tion of  mankind.  By  every  token  he  was  still  grow- 
ing in  grace,  and  in  polish,  and  in  power — and  we 
looked  for  his  social  intercourse,  his  pulpit  ministra- 
tions, and  his  official  counsels,  to  be  more  than  ever 
enriched  by  his  late  opportunities.  His  plans,  and 
ours,  for  greater  usefulness,  were  projected  upon  the 
future — when  suddenly  he  is  taken  off.  God,  by 
similar  providences,  is  teaching  bereaved  families 
resignation;  and  he  calls  on  the  Church  to  learn  that 
lesson  now.  It  is  a  grace  as  becoming  and  as  neces- 
sary to  our  completeness  as  the  joy  of  gratitude  and 
hope  that  was  kindled  by  our  brother's  living  min- 
istry. 

He  was  at  his  prime — never  so  useful,  so  widely 
known,  and  so  much  beloved;  and  just  then  sud- 
denly removed.  Do  you  exclaim,  Mysterious  Provi- 
dence !  It  is  something  for  the  Church  to  have  a 
clear  impression  of  Christian  and  ministerial  excel- 
lence, in  which  the  ideal  and  the  real  nearly  approach 
each  other — a  picture  to  be  hung  up  in  the  heart  of 
the  people.  Old  age  liath  its  infirmities,  and  some- 
times the  blunders  of  later  life  mar  the  work  that 
was  done  before.  By  quick  and  sudden  movement 
the  seal  is  taken  up,  and  the  clean-cut  lines  and  out* 


604  APPENDIX. 

lines  are  left  without  a  blur.  We  like  pictures  of 
our  friends  taken  when  in  health  and  at  their  best 
condition.  So  will  the  Church  think  of  Bishop 
Marvin,  and  look  up  to  that  standard,  long  after  the 
days  of  her  mourning  are  ended. 

The  disciples  of  John,  after  burying  him,  "  went 
and  told  Jesus."  So  let  us  do.  The  "residue  of 
the  Spirit"  is  with  him;  and  he  can  call  and  qualify 
and  send  forth  other  laborers,  who  shall  suit  our  times 
and  wants,  as  this  servant  of  God  has  done.  For 
this,  let  prayer  be  made  to  the  Lord  of  the  harvest. 

Bishop  Marvin's  preaching  and  living  produced  a 
deep  impression.  May  we  inquire  into  the  secret  of 
his  power?  In  addition  to  the  general  qualities 
already  spoken  of,  as  making  up  a  well-rounded 
character,  we  see  in  him  an  ability  to  learn  much 
from  original  sources — communing  with  God,  with 
himself,  with  men  and  nature.  He  drew  largely  from 
his  experience ;  and  this  imparted  a  characteristic 
freshness  and  variety  to  his  ministrations. 

Courage,  firmness,  and  aggressiveness,  were  not 
wanting  in  him ;  but  these  were  veiled  under  a  phys- 
ical form  of  weakness,  much-enduring  and  uncom- 
plaining— a  benevolent  eye,  a  conciliating  voice.  All 
the  natural  forces  that  were  excited  drew  to  sym- 
pathy, and  not  to  antagonism  or  antipathy.  Beyond 
the  "offense  of  the  cross"  there  was  no  incidental  of- 
fense to  discount  his  influence.  The  mob  that  stoned 
Whitefield,  would  have  fought  for  Summerfield. 

It  was  a  privilege  to  counsel  with  him.  His  mental 
uprightness,  his  candor  and  charity,  gave  meaning  to 
those  words  :  "We  took  sweet  counsel  together." 

His  love  for  his  brethren  "was  wonderful."  He 
showed  it,  and  did  not  mind  saying  it  outright,  "/ 
love  yo?t" 

He  was  not  given  to  judging  his  fellow-men,  but 
he  judged  himself  severely.  He  dealt  closely  with 
his  own  conscience ;  and  thus  it  came  that  he  reached 


APPENDIX.  605 

and  searched  the  consciences  of  others.  As  an  in- 
stance of  this  habitual  self-scrutiny,  take  a  paragraph 
from  his  last  Preface  : 

"  It  is  needless  for  me  to  profess  a  good  motive  in 
preparing  these  discourses  for  the  press,  for  every 
Christian  man  is  supposed  to  act  upon  good  motives; 
yet,  truth  to  tell,  I  have  never  been  quite  as  well  sat- 
isfied with  my  own  motives  as  I  would  like  to  be ; 
for  while  I  trust  that  the  '  love  of  Christ  constraineth 
me,'  still,  upon  any  deep  introspection,  I  have  occa- 
sion to  suspect  the  presence  of  a  subtle  selfishness 
and  vanity,  from  which  I  find  no  resort  but  in  Atoning 
Mercy.  I  can  only  pray  God  that  if  there  be  the 
taint  of  any  such  thing  in  the  publication  of  this  vol- 
ume, the  all-saving  Blood  may  put  it  away,  and  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  may  make  my  poor  work  the  instru- 
ment of  salvation  to  some  who  are  in  sin,  and  of 
edification  to  those  who  are  already  in  Christ." 

Those  sermons  had  been  prayed  over  before. 
With  that  end  constantly  in  view,  his  less  elaborate 
productions  had  been  honored  with  the  demonstra- 
tion of  the  Spirit.  Prevailing  with  God,  he  prevailed 
with  men,  and  had  an  unction  from  the  Holy  One. 

His  traveling  companion  gave  me  this  incident : 
They  had  gone  from  Shanghai  into  the  interior  of 
China,  and  seen  many  strange  things,  about  which, 
on  their  return,  he  was  indulging  some  humorous 
remarks.  Suddenly  he  checked  himself  in  poignant 
sorrow,  and  penitent  prayer — "  What !  God's  servant 
in  the  presence  of  paganism,  in  this  valley  of  dry 
bones,  indulging  merriment !  Sorrow  is  better  than 
laughter  here." 

He  was  consecrated.  His  love-feast  expression 
was,  that  if  there  was  any  thing  pertaining  to  him 
which  had  not  been  consecrated  to  God,  he  prayed  to 
know  what  it  was,  that  he  might  lay  it  also  on  the  altar. 

Brethren,  this  is  Thanksgiving-day,  and  by  ap- 
pointment, which  he  had  accepted,   Bishop  Marvin 


606  APPENDIX. 

was  to  have  preached  in  this  pulpit  at  this  hour. 
Can  we  not,  even  with  the  drapery  of  death  about 
us,  follow  the  apostolic  injunction,  "  In  every  thing 
give  thanks."  Can  we  not,  with  the  Psalmist,  "sing 
of  mercy  and  judgment  ?  " 

Let  the  Church  give  thanks  that  God  vouchsafed 
to  her  this  "chosen  vessel,"  and  you  of  Missouri, 
especially — for  "  he  was  a  burning  and  a  shining 
light,"  and  it  was  your  privilege,  for  a  season,  to  re- 
joice in  his  light. 

Can  his  family  give  thanks  ?  Already  it  has  been 
fitly  done,  and  without  premeditation.  Soon  after 
he  breathed  his  last,  and  the  sad,  unexpected  tidings 
stole  abroad  in  darkness,  friends  hastened  to  comfort 
them.  The  widowed  wife  met  the  first  that  reached 
the  door,  with  a  face  of  chastened  peace,  exclaim- 
ing, "Isn't  God  good  to  me? — he  died  at  home/" 
She  and  her  children  were  not  strangers  to  the  fear 
that  he  might  die  of  sickness  among  strangers,  or  by 
some  accident  in  his  journeyings  on  land  or  sea. 
Living  and  laboring  abroad,  to  them  and  him  it  was 
granted  that  he  should  die  at  home. 

And  for  him  we  render  thanks.  "  Let  not  him 
that  girdeth  on  his  harness  boast  himself  as  he  that 
putteth  it  off."  This  soldier  of  Christ  has  put  off 
his  harness;  his  conflicts  are  ended;  his  work  is 
done  ;  he  rests  in  peace.  "  Thanks  be  to  God  which 
giveth  us  the  victory,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

Servant  of  God,  well  done! 

Rest  from  thy  loved  employ; 
The  battle  fought,  the  vict'ry  won, 

Enter  thy  Master's  joy. 

And  now,  "  Unto  him  that  loved  us,  and  washed 
us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood,  and  hath  made  us 
kings  and  priests  unto  God  and  his  Father ;  to  him 
be  glory  and  dominion  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen." 

THE  ExND, 


RARE  BOOK 
COLLECTION 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT 

CHAPEL  HILL 

Travel 

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